The Grandmaster of the League
by lb54
Summary: Jax has been heralded as the greatest fighter in the League's history, but can he win the battles concerning love and his past?
1. Chapter 1

Hello, my pen name is lb54 and I decided that I wanted to write a fanfiction that would be my first continuous project. I have no idea how long this is going to be, or how elaborate it will be. We'll just play it by ear and see where we go! Some more notes about what I'm going to be doing: I'm sort of following the lore, but writing my own for Jax as I feel he is a mysterious character with not much known about him in his lore, so I feel as if I have creative freedoms to make up a pretty interesting backstory that affects his future. Without further ado, I present to you Chapter 1 of the Grandmaster of the League- lb54

Chapter 1

Jax looked up at his lane opponent; this would be one of the few times that he would say that he had to exert more than average effort. Riven was fiery, quick, and elusive. As he smashed another caster minion's face in with a satisfying "SPMPH", he saw the wielder of the broken blade charge up her Wind Slash, and swung sending the line of Ki energy directly at his face. He smirked as he dodged the attack, leapt onto her, used his counter strike, and then empowered his trusty lamp for the quick and easy kill.

Cleaning up the last of the creep wave, Jax turned his attention to his teammate Shyvana as she was being run down by Nunu in the jungle. She cried out for some help as she was about to be slain. Nunu was not alone; he was followed by the sheriff of Piltover Caitlyn, and a trusty voidmage Kassadin. This was going to be tough. Jax activated his counter strike and leapt into the three determined to save his teammate. The counter strike landed stunning the three, and Jax was quick to eliminate the yeti and turn his attention to the sheriff as she used her 90 Caliber Net to escape backwards over the wall. Shit, he wasn't going to kill her. Before he could turn around he was immediately jumped onto by Kassadin who Force Pulsed and Null Sphered Jax while continuing to beat down on him. As soon as the silence wore off, Kassadin was another quick kill for Jax as he scored the double kill and his team cleaned up the rest to pick up the ace, and go on to finish off the nexus.

High fives were had all around afterward; summoners swooned at the great performance of the Grandmaster at Arms. Jax smirked to himself before heading off to the dormitories at the Institute to wash up and get some much deserved food and rest. The Grandmaster was used to being alone after matches, and was actually given a rather empty ward of the dormitories so that he could get his requested peace and privacy. It had been years since he joined the League, and the one thing that he didn't want to have happen was to have an identity scandal. He was anonymous even to the high council; not even the wise Xelnath knew who he was.

As Jax finished his shower and food, he took off his mask and stared into the mirror he had in his bedroom. Jax had a very rigid face, with a strong profile and an almost chiseled jawline. His abnormally purple colored skin was much paler towards his face because of the lack of sunlight that he received. His hair was typically in a buzz cut or extremely short; he didn't care for anything that might suggest who he was.

Today was just like any other day to Jax, a well-earned victory on the Rift followed by rest. His life was surely linear and bland to an outsider looking in, but then again the outsider didn't know any of the risks that Jax would have to run in order to have a rather prolific life. He stretched his arms back and let out a sigh before lying flat on his bed looking up at the ceiling and pondering about his past life and if he would still be accepted. It was at this thought that he heard a knocking at his door. With a puzzled expression Jax grabbed his mask and pulled his hood over his head before walking over to the door. He didn't expect any company; no one ever came to visit him and for good reason. The council had given him lots of privacy and security, so this must be important. He opened the door to see none other than the half-dragon herself, Shyvana.

"Hello Jax, you did a great job today, and I wanted to thank you again for saving me."

He paused before replying, "Yeah it was no problem. So how did you-"

"Get to your room?" She finished the sentence for him

"Yeah, the council has some tight security over here for good reasons." He replied

She rolled her eyes, "Oh please Jax, if I wanted to harm you don't you think I would have done so already?"

He hadn't really thought about that, but he supposed it was a plausible conclusion. "Ok, go ahead then, why are you really here? I'm sure you didn't go out of your way just to thank me for saving you, no one has ever done that in the years I have been here."

She was straight to the point "Well, Jarvan, Garen, and I are going on a mission involving some Noxian technology, some super high tech stuff. We know that you are interested in weaponry of all sorts, and we figured that having a weapons expert such as yourself come along that we could get some more information on how this thing was supposed to work."

Jax was honestly a little shocked that Demacians were asking for his aid. "I'm sure that if you had any questions regarding Noxian technology Ezreal would surely be more of a useful companion on your journey wouldn't he?"

Shyvana let out a small sigh before replying, "Ezreal left to go study with Heimerdinger over in Bandle City, apparently there's some trouble brewing over there, I don't know the full details or anything, but to answer your question, he wouldn't be a more useful companion, we need a strong fighter like yourself to come along too."

Was she really asking him to side with Demacia in a conflict with Noxus? Was she insane? Jax had always from the beginning declared political neutrality, but something about this seemed rather important for not only the asking of his aid, but also to bypass the Institute's security.

"What's in it for me?"

Shyvana looked more than a little surprised when he said that, she thought she had made her point obvious in the beginning, "Well, you get to look at some high tech weaponry that has never been seen before by anyone else on all of Runeterra save for a few high ranking officials like Swain. What else do you need?"

He thought for a moment to himself before reluctantly agreeing, "I guess I'll come along, but don't expect me to pick a side and stand with Demacia should the going get tough. I'm in it for research purposes only, agreed?"

She nodded, and before Jax could turn away she stopped him, "Also, I really thought it was great of you to save me like you did today. Most others would have just let me die before jumping into three enemies."

He blushed slightly, not that she would have seen it under his mask. It had been so long since he had a female companion outside of the Rift. "I would also like to get to know the mysterious Grandmaster at Arms during our adventure if that's ok with you." She turned and left him giving him a wink over her shoulder before Jax waved and closed his door.

What had he just agreed to? This was absurd and very dangerous for Jax himself. The last thing he wanted was to throw himself between two conflicting countries and have his identity revealed between the both of them. But even still, he had been feeling quite lonely the past five years, and he figured that this would be an alright way to alleviate some of those feelings. He walked over to his glass balcony doors and opened them before sitting down on a nice luxury leather chair that he specifically asked for from the council.

Although he asked for great privacy, he wanted a balcony with a decent view, and with this being the south side of the Institute, there was little chance that anyone would be able to see him due to the building structure as well there being nothing for miles to the south of the Institute. He could see the lights from the cities in the background miles away, and he longed to be home. It had been nearly a decade since his last visit back home, he wondered about how his brother was doing back home. But of course he knew his fate was already sealed when he became a mercenary for Zaun. If his brother was still himself and sane, Jax would be pleased enough, but the likelihood of that being a reality was rather low considering he worked under Dr. Mundo for some time. Mundo was known for conducting experiments on mercenaries for hire, and most of the time those experiments were tragic; success or failure didn't matter to Mundo.

Jax was startled when he saw a blade whiz past his head to stick in the wall right next to him. He jumped out of his chair and armed himself with the nearby umbrella from his glass table, ready to strike at whoever, or whatever, was attacking him.

He heard a rather hearty laugh before seeing Katarina the Sinister Blade descend down onto his balcony.

"Nice 'weapon' you have there." She chuckled to herself

"Hasn't slowed me down before. What are you doing here?" Jax replied hastily

Katarina cracked a sly smile before replying, "Oh nothing, just wanting to know why in the hell there is another person coming to aid Demacia in the war effort to sabotage my country."

Jax knew that something bad was going to come of this, and this was only the beginning. "I don't plan to hurt anyone from Noxus, I just want to examine this new weapon and research it for myself. Using the Demacian aid for my own good seems like a decent plan to get my hands on what I want."

She stared at him blankly, obviously not believing what he had just uttered. "Please dearie, you just want to get in with that dragon slut don't you?"

That jab angered Jax, and he didn't realize how bad his positioning was in relation to where Katarina was standing. In a flash she had pinned him against the wall, tossing aside the umbrella like the useless stick it was, and had a blade to Jax's throat.

"If you leave with the Demacians tomorrow, I swear I will hunt down and kill everything you have ever loved or cared about, do you understand?" She said fiercely, piercing into Jax's eyes through his mask.

Jax didn't have anything left for her to kill, but he had no desire to risk getting killed right then and there, so he simply nodded before Katarina made her first major mistake: easing off and sliding her left foot back.

Jax seized the moment to trip her with his own foot and then delivered a swift knee to her ribs before closing his hands together to come down with an overhead smash onto her head. She was dazed and fell over onto her side before Jax grabbed her by the collar and lifted her off the ground.

"Now you listen to me bitch, I can go wherever, and do whatever I please without your permission, is that clear?" She was being choked by his grip, so she hastily nodded her head up and down.

"Good. You know what they say, a cat always lands on their feet." He tossed her over his balcony and a few seconds later he heard a thump followed by groans from Katarina. That should keep her away for a little he thought to himself before finally closing his balcony doors and shutting his lights.

Jax didn't know that his adventure was simply beginning, and that this first step would be the first of many. He laid there silently, and closed his eyes as darkness enveloped him, and sleep came.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hey guys, I know that this is a rated M story, and a lot of you come here expecting some smut and as such I will deliver in the future, however like I have stated in the beginning I plan for this to become an actual story, and so it will be a few chapters before we get to the good stuff. Also a rather large note, imagine Shyvana like she is wearing her Ironscale skin. Enjoy Chapter 2 of the Grandmaster of the League! :D –lb54

Chapter 2

Jax's eyes shot open as the sunlight barely reached into his room through his balcony doors. He felt oddly serene and rather at peace with himself. Perhaps the dream that he couldn't recall was a good one. He sat up on the edge of his bed and stood up stretching for the day and yawning as he did so.

Today was going to be a long one, that much he could tell. He didn't have any idea what kind of adventure lied in front of him, but he was damn sure he was going to find out. Jax made his way over to his kitchen, made himself some hot tea, and sat down at his kitchen table sipping the tea while running over his thoughts.

Shyvana. The first thought that popped into his head. Why was this woman so interested in him? I mean, even if he hadn't have saved her, she would have just respawned, and even then he didn't think that their team would have lost. It puzzled him, but he then thought back to how lonely and tiresome his life had truly become. Ever since he joined the League, things had been quiet in terms of what was happening in his life. No longer was he a soldier for hire like his brother, now he was a true champion on the fields of justice.

Maybe that's why she was interested in him. Maybe it was his prominence on the Rift. He chuckled at that thought, he didn't usually speak to his teammates, he just acted on instinct and did what he must to win the match and earn his stay. That was when he heard a knocking on his door, and he rose to his feet.

Jax walked over and opened the door to see Shyvana standing there.

"You ready to go?" she asked shyly

"Yeah let me just grab my lamppost, I'll be right out."

"Hun, we have a mace for you, maybe you'll like using a real weapon for once?" She smiled

"Uh…Yeah that sounds good I guess." Truth be told, Jax couldn't remember the last time he wielded a real weapon, but he knew his proficiency hadn't dwindled in the slightest; the lamppost was similar to a mace, only much less effective.

The two left the dormitories and headed outside the Institute. "We have to catch a train to Demacia to meet up with Jarvan and Garen. We best hurry." She said before walking off at a faster pace, beckoning for Jax to keep up

The train station was loud and buzzing. Noise was something Jax wasn't used to except for the cheering after matches, but even then it wasn't as… annoying. People gave the purple man some odd stares before Shyvana gave him his ticket and pulled him onto the correct train where they took a seat across from one another.

Shyvana had a very curious look about her and she started to twiddle her braid before asking him the first of many questions. "So Jax, how does a man like you end up in the League? You must have an interesting story."

He sighed, and knew that this was a mistake from the beginning to go on this crazy mission, but for some reason he couldn't say no to this woman. "Well it really is an interesting story, but it is best for another time."

She looked a bit annoyed before pressuring some more. "Look, we are going to be on this mission together for the entirety of this day at least, so we might as well try to start some kind of friendly conversation. Go ahead, you start with the questions then, just promise me you will answer some too."

He nodded, "Okay. So Shyvana, how does a woman like you end up in the League?" Shit. He didn't realize that he just asked the same exact question that she did.

Shyvana simply smiled and chuckled a bit before saying, "Well I didn't mean let's play 20 questions where you ask the same ones that I do." He blushed, but once again that trusty mask of his kept his face truly hidden, but Shyvana knew he was definitely embarrassed.

"To answer your question, I am half-dragon. I was considered an outcast to my kind, an abomination. My father and I fled, but were hunted down by a drake, my father was killed and I then met Jarvan before coming into the League." She stayed resolute, but held back strong emotions for the heavy loss that she had experienced.

"I'm sorry to hear that. My story isn't as extreme, but is still quite tragic." Jax replied before taking a deep breath.

"I was a soldier for hire who got in over his head fighting with and against every country on Runeterra. I was simply the best at what I did, and I was always bought by the highest bidder. Normally that wouldn't have been an issue; however you make more than a few enemies along the way. One of which was a man who is in the League today, someone that changed my brother's and my life forever." He paused and looked at Shyvana who was very much paying attention to every word, savoring over every syllable.

"Mundo." Was all Jax muttered.

Shyvana nodded her head. She knew of the atrocities that Mundo had committed being the Madman of Zaun. Honestly his title should be the madman of madmen; Zaun was a place of insanity and cruelty, and Mundo was the one who sat atop this throne of abominations.

Shyvana took a breath before saying, "Thank you Jax, I know it must have took a lot for you to tell someone you hardly know a story about your past when you are so tight-lipped about everything. I assume you are tight-lipped because you don't want anyone to know who you were before you joined the league?"

He simply nodded in response and changing the subject asking, "So what exactly is this weapon? It is important that I know what I am getting into beforehand."

Shyvana answered quickly, "It is some kind of device that enhances the wielder's power, however there seems to be a way to extract the energy out of directly. The Noxians haven't figured out what to do with it yet, so it seems they are simply holding it for the sole purpose that no one else finds out what it is."

Jax took in this knowledge and stored it in his mind; if this weapon was what he feared it to be, it must be destroyed before it falls into the wrong hands, however he didn't want to tell Shyvana that, especially not before they met up with the rest of the Demacian party.

"Shyvana, I do appreciate your company, it has been a long time since I have had any. I just want to know why you seem to feel like you are in my debt. All I did was my job on the Rift yesterday, and we ended up winning. It was nothing out of the ordinary."

It was Shyvana's turn to blush. "Well, I must say that I enjoy a strong man saving me from danger. It's any woman's turn on really." That startled Jax a bit. She was very forthcoming with everything she said, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

The two chatted back and forth nonchalantly for the rest of the ride before finally arriving in Demacia. Shyvana led Jax outside where they were greeted by none other than Prince Jarvan the fourth, as well as his right hand man Garen. Both were astonished to see Jax.

"Hello Shyvana, it is great to see that your trip went well." Jarvan turned to Jax, "And I thank you for accompanying us on this trip, but I could have sworn that you were allied to no country." Jarvan said with a slightly puzzled look.

"Just because I am coming along doesn't mean I am allied to anyone. Shyvana said that you were going to be examining a very high tech weapon; my job is to examine it and tell you what I know about it. That doesn't mean that I am strictly aligned to Demacia." Jarvan nodded understandingly, but before Jax could open his mouth to ask the next question, Garen approached him.

"So you, the Grandmaster at Arms, don't even have enough honor to fight for the greatest country on Runeterra? Blasphemy, he probably works for Noxus, Jarvan I say that we-" before he could finish Jarvan had grabbed him and turned him away from Jax and Shyvana, who both stood there watching as Jarvan whispered some things to Garen. After rolling his eyes more than a couple of times, Garen walked back to Jax and said, "My apologies ally. We are looking to find out the same thing, it was unwise of me to accuse you of such treachery." He kneeled before Jax showing true respect.

"I accept your apology, but you don't have to call me 'ally'. We are simply bound by similar interests, so let us explore said interests shall we?" And off the group went to their caravan of horses. They rode north to enter into the Kaladoun region. Due to the territorial alliances that were in place, Noxus had a strategic position to attack from the north into Demacia from the Kaladoun region. However Demacia also had superior control to the south of Noxus, and the area between the Institute of War and Noxus. All in all, the "treaties" simply made the wars much more attritional.

The party rode into the late evening when they finally arrived just west of the Serpentine River. Noxus was holding this weapon in a fortress nearby, and securing it wouldn't be an easy task; however they were more than just well-equipped for the task. The Demacian party unloaded their gear, and sent in the small squad of soldiers that they "borrowed" for the mission before the main party followed in behind.

The fortress was perched on a hill, and infiltration was going to be a stealth affair; something Jax was not very good at, however he kept to the back of the party.

As night settled over the land, the Demacian soldiers trickled over the northern wall, scaling one by one before the main party made their way up and into the courtyard. To the west was the main keep, and surely the weapon would be kept on the top floor. Without being spotted the two groups moved into the main keep before a guard was finally alerted, and the stealth mission was a bust. The good news for the party (besides the fact that they had Jax on their side) was that they were already inside and safe from any crossbow fire.

Inside the keep the two groups were flanked and attacked from the front by two large waves of Noxians. Garen took the flanking group down by himself while Jarvan took down the frontal assault. Jax was only there for counter-attacking, and didn't want to attack unprovoked. That was when he heard a familiar sound; a blade whizzed past his head hitting Garen in the calf and bringing him to one knee. Jax reacted naturally and killed off the three men that jumped Garen one after the other after the other with great ease.

Before long, the room was silent except for the groans of Garen as he removed the blade from himself, blood gushing onto the very ornate rug below. Jarvan reached into his pack and pulled out some medical supplies and began to work on the wound as Jax looked around.

He was sure he had heard it correctly. That was no ordinary blade thrower. That must have been Katarina, and he was surprised to not see her reveal herself already. Maybe the woman had at least an ounce of respect for him after tossing her over the balcony the previous night. That was a major detail he left out when talking to Shyvana on the train, hopefully it wouldn't sabotage the mission as a whole.

Garen declared he was alright and the party made their way to the second floor untouched and then Jax saw it. He saw the tripwire and called out "STOP! Everyone, stop walking! There are tripwires!" And he began to fiddle and disarm the traps one by one until they were in the main room of the second floor.

Curiously enough there was a grey box with a glowing red crystal atop it, pulsating its brilliant light. Jax knew exactly what this was, and he had to make sure that no one else would be affected by it. "This weapon needs to be destroyed. Now." The three others turned to him surprised.

"And why would we do that you fool?" Questioned Garen.

Jax had had enough of this buffoon insulting him. "Now you listen here you mongrel. This is no ordinary weapon, this thing has some seriously deadly shit that is more than capable of ripping your insignificant figure to itty-bitty pieces. Nobody should be in possession of this, not you, not Noxus, and not me. Nobody." Jax raised his mace smashing downward onto the crystal.

The crystal exploded into a beautiful but destructive red light that blinded the four temporarily before fading into simple red dust.

"And who do you think you are to destroy something that isn't yours?" A voice called from behind.

The party turned to see none other than Jericho Swain and Katarina behind them.

"Swain, I never thought that we would meet again this closely." Jarvan said with a smirk

"Rest assured our day will come when we see who is truly the better fighter, but I have no beef with any of you Demacians today. You!" He pointed to Jax with his cane, "You have done something that you will surely regret in time. You are lucky that we didn't know how to use this weapon, and you are lucky that we will let you all go under one condition. You tell us what it was capable of, and who made it."

Jax hesitated. This was information that he really didn't want to give out to anyone. This was serious. It could mean the fate of Runeterra.

"It is called… The Spark." The others looked on as he continued his description

"The Spark was created by none other than the Madman of Zaun, Dr. Mundo himself. The purpose? To create a spitting image of the perfect Dr. Mundo. Mundo had not come out the way he had hoped originally, however after learning about forbidden magics and chemistry, he was able to create this. A weapon of true horror. Its ability is to suck the life force out of any who wish to gain its power, and then they turn into a lifeless, soulless meathead. That person, if you want to call them that anymore, becomes an extremely strong, fast, and dexterous individual capable of fighting and beating whomever they choose to fight." They were all shocked to hear about this seemingly impossible power, however it was only the beginning of what it could truly do.

"Oh but wait, there's more. A lot more. Mutations are almost guaranteed to occur. Some gain all the strength and dexterity, but lose nothing from their life force. Others gain absolutely nothing except eternal suffering. If deployed on a worldwide scale this weapon would be strong enough to augment every single person on Runeterra with some kind of strong ability, however they would almost certainly die to overexposure of the extremely high amount of radiation released by such a large concentration." He paused again before coming to the last point.

"I have had more than one account of firsthand experience with this weapon, and I will say that I am glad that I have destroyed what is hopefully the last one in existence. If Mundo has more or creates another, more powerful Spark, we are all doomed friends." With that, Jax walked straight past Swain and down to the front of the keep.

The group was speechless. What was once thought of as a simple tool to play capture the flag over became a worldwide threat that needed to be disposed of. Katarina and Swain both left without a word leaving Garen, Shyvana and Jarvan on the second floor to their own devices.

"Wow, I'm glad that we brought him along." Shyvana muttered before walking down to meet up with Jax. However to her surprise, he was already gone.

Jax rode off into the night. He couldn't believe himself. He had told not only Noxus, but Demacia as well about this weapon and its true power. He was doomed should anyone find out his connection to the Spark. Jax was deep in thought, so much so that he didn't realize until much too late that he was bucked off his horse falling down onto the river bank of the River Serpentine. He scrambled to his feet, but much to his dismay, his horse had run off in the opposite direction. Great.

The moon was out in all its glory tonight, but Jax couldn't appreciate its beauty. He needed to get away, and get away fast. Getting away fast was not really a possibility. Accepting his fate, he laid down on a patch of soft grass and started to stargaze, letting himself fall into a trance where he did not care about his current struggles, one where he could just stare off into the night at the very pretty, burning orange star.

Wait. Stars don't burn orange, and they certainly don't move. He snapped back to his senses before realizing that the orange light was none other than Shyvana flying out into the night, and circling back around looking for him. Jax stood up, and empowered his mace, hoping that the small amount of light it gave off would be enough for Shyvana to see his location.

Fortunately for him, she saw it and swooped down quickly landing down a few feet from his location before turning back into her human form. She approached him with a look of worry on her face.

"Why did you leave like that?" She asked with a tone of serious concern

"I… had to. There are some things that I keep secret for good reason. That was one of them. Shyvana, I really do appreciate everything that you have done for me, but for some reason I can't say no to you. I couldn't back out of the mission, and I certainly couldn't keep to myself on the train…" he trailed off before becoming silent.

"Jax, I was really worried about you when I saw that your horse had returned to the cavalry. That's not a good sign especially considering the fact that there is none other than Katarina out here; one of the most deadly assassins on Runeterra. I don't know how I could live with myself knowing that I brought you into this mission only for you to die." He was speechless. Had she really grown this affectionate for him already? They hardly knew each other, but it felt like the connection was truly there; she had flown up in the sky looking for him, and his empowered mace gave off such little light; it was hard to tell if it was fate uniting the two, or luck.

"I don't want to make things between us strange Jax, but I feel like we have gone through a lot in a short amount of time. I want to know you more, I want to give you company, no one should be alone for so long." She said with a great amount of longing.

Jax sighed before saying, "The things I have gone through have made it only harder for me to desire to be with anyone. I want company, but I know what would come of it. I'm not sure I'm ready to drag someone down with me into this endless hell, it's not fair for anyone else to bear this burden."

Shyvana put her hands on his shoulders and stared into his eyes through his mask, "You don't have to be this tough guy that carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. I know what it's like to be alone, and I know exactly what you are saying. Do you think I wanted to tell anyone about how I was an exile of my people? Of how I was simply an abomination to their kind? Of course I didn't. I felt what I was bearing was mine, and my own to carry. Jarvan and Demacia helped me Jax. They all listened and understood, and wanted to help me have vengeance, and honestly it made me realize that vengeance isn't the only thing worth living for." Her words pierced through his thick exterior like a needle. What she said seemed absolutely true. He wanted to open up to her, but still couldn't.

"Shyvana…I…I can't do this to you…" He muttered weakly, averting his eyes.

He was shocked to feel his hood and mask thrown off quickly, and his eyes burned as they soaked in the pale moonlight for the first time in many years.

Shyvana looked startled as she saw who Jax really was, she knew then and there exactly what he had been alluding to, but she still stayed resolute.

"I know who you are now Jax. But trust me, that doesn't change anything about how I feel or what I think about you. Sure, you were the greatest mercenary that pissed off everyone on Runeterra while taking all their money, but it doesn't matter now. All of that is in the past. You are in the present. You are living for the future." Her arms then went around his neck, and Jax submitted finally to her ways.

She kissed him, his first in many years. A wave of affection flew through his body as he began to kiss her back and he embraced her, wrapping his arms around her back. Her lips were very hot, almost burning; she had a very fiery core. They held together for what seemed like an eternity to Jax, before she pulled herself apart.

Shyvana stared into his soul and said, "I am more than willing to share this burden with you, never think you are alone." And with that they kissed again, this time with more passion than the previous. Jax was absolutely stunned and couldn't focus on anything but kissing her back and living in the moment.

Shyvana pulled apart again, this time saying, "Now don't get your hopes up about getting past first base tonight, I can feel your excitement." He blushed, his pale cheeks turning a light red. "However, we still have to get out of here and get back to the Institute, our next match is scheduled for tomorrow, and as much as I would love to sit here and kiss you all night, we have to set our priorities in place." She let him go, and for the first time since their embrace, Jax was under his own control again, almost falling over from being off balance.

Shyvana stood back and transformed back into a dragon, the beautiful orange and scarlet flames flowing around her. The flames subsided, and she beckoned for Jax to hop on. He obliged not before picking up his mask and putting up his hood. Together they flew off towards the institution to gain some much needed rest…


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, Chapter 3 of the Grandmaster of the League is right here! I wanted to thank the people who are now following and thanks for favoriting this story! Means a whole lot to know after just 2 chapters, people seem to like the way I am writing. I am aware of some of my issues as a writer, and I hope that Chapter 2 was significantly better than Chapter 1. Please leave a review if you feel like it, I want to read your feedback be it positive or negative! I can't promise how soon the smut is going to be, but I hope that the plot leading up to it will suffice. Enjoy- lb54

Chapter 3

Things on the Rift this match were not going like usual for Jax. He had a lot on his mind, and it showed. He was missing crucial creep kills, and missing harass opportunities. Luckily, he was facing an opponent that he already placed a lot of fear into: Riven. Once again, these two fierce warriors were squaring off from the top lane. Riven had pulled slightly ahead of Jax, which was odd to say the least. Lissandra the Ice Witch was doing rather well in the middle lane versus Gragas, and as such she came up to the top lane for a gank which resulted in a quick and easy kill for Jax's team.

Jax's thoughts were running wild; he couldn't be falling for Shyvana this quickly could he? It just seemed unnaturally quick, and for someone that was experienced in short relationships, this was still odd for him. He was caught daydreaming when he failed to see Jarvan come out of the top lane river bush and gave up a kill to Riven. Damn. That wasn't going to help his team at all.

Fortunately, Shyvana was on his team, but unlike Jax, she was feeling excellent and was coming up with huge plays for the team, increasing their lead and carrying the team into the mid-game. A 4 versus 5 teamfight broke out with Jax missing due to the respawn timer, and Jax's team was getting beaten badly, however the Grandmaster's instincts kicked in as he leapt into the fight and picked up 2 easy kills. However, it was just him and Shyvana against the Riven who was rather scary.

Riven dashed in and followed it up with her Ki Burst, stunning Jax and then activating her Ultimate to wind up the execute. Jax saw it coming and braced himself for the Wind Slash. All he heard was a loud roar and opened his eyes to see Shyvana taking Riven down and picking up the kill as she urged Jax onwards to take down the enemy nexus.

After the narrow victory, Jax walked off heading towards his Dormitory before being stopped by the half-dragon herself.

"Hey, what happened out there today big guy?" She asked with a tease.

He stopped walking and let out a sigh before replying, "I don't know… just had a lot on my mind, I couldn't focus on the match at all." Jax said, breaking eye contact with Shyvana

Shyvana walked with him some way before saying anything. She sighed a bit before saying. "I know it's about last night, but what are you more concerned about?" she asked in a concerned tone

Jax stopped walking and turned to Shyvana. "I am honestly concerned about both things. I do not want to see you fall down with me, but you clearly want to try which I do appreciate. When it comes to the Spark, I just don't know if telling them the truth was a great idea. That kind of knowledge gets people killed." He stated

Before Shyvana could comfort him, a hooded man in brown robes approached the two, and stopped them. "I am from the council, do not be alarmed." He faced towards Jax. "Come with me, and you" gesturing towards Shyvana, "You may come too if you so desire. This is of utmost importance."

Shyvana and Jax followed this man all the way to the office of none other than the wise summoner Hippalus. Hippalus was facing away from the two as they entered. He wasn't a man of much physical prowess, but it was clear that he was very important due to the silky, grey robes with gold trim he wore.

"Take a seat." He simply stated. Jax and Shyvana glanced and shrugged at each other before taking a seat at the chairs in front of the desk. Hippalus shut the blinds and the sound of deadbolts turning in the door behind them was very clear. Hippalus turned facing them; however, his face was covered by a black bandana, and all you could see were his burning blue eyes. His voice was soothing, but had dark tones in it, he was an interesting man to listen to, and being summoned to his office meant something extremely important.

"As you can imagine I wouldn't just call you two in here for the sake of small conversation. We have a very serious matter on our hands, and both of you know some very important information. Jax, you have firsthand experience while Shyvana, you have simply seen it in action. Of course I am talking about the weapon you know to be called the Spark." With that he reached over on the desk and picked up a manila folder marked "TOP SECRET" and opened it, laying some photographs onto the table for the two to look at.

"This is what you saw, correct?"

The pictures were of what appeared to be the exact same grey box with red crystal on top, glowing brightly. The background however was much different from the Noxian keep; it appeared to be in some sort of laboratory.

"Yeah that's what we saw last night, but where were these pictures taken Hippalus?" Jax asked

Hippalus took a deep breath and then said coldly, "Mundo's laboratory located in Zaun. We found this after we initiated him into the League. It was part of the agreement for him to continue to perform experiments in a much more controlled setting here at the Institute. We found this, and didn't think much of it; however we may have found a direct trace with this weapon and several other champions in the League."

Jax stood up holding the pictures and asked loudly, almost yelling, "You mean that there are others who are empowered by this?" Hippalus simply nodded before adding more detail, "The trace is much more significant than you can imagine. But before I can tell you anything about the trace, I need to know who you really are Jax, I think it's time to reveal yourself to the Council, we don't know if we can trust you or not." Jax understood, but still felt very much exposed when he took off his mask and pulled his hood down. His pale face exposed to the powerful member of the council.

Hippalus' eyes simply widened as he recognized the man for who he truly was.

"I went under a different alias back then, but my birth name is Jax. I was born in Ionia, and grew up on the streets of Noxus, I became a soldier for hire with my brother Nyx. I stayed in Noxus for a while taking odd jobs and honing my skills; I put work into what I did. Nyx wanted success right away, he wouldn't wait for being the best, and he wanted it all right then and there."

Jax paused and so Hippalus took the time to ask a question. Shyvana was simply sitting there staring and listening intently. "And what did Nyx do to get there Jax?"

"He went to Viktor at first; he wanted to augment himself with all sorts of strange technology. He felt that would be the best way to increase his strength. I told him that was a bad idea, and that he would regret it. He didn't listen. He went to Viktor who simply brushed him off, but Nyx wouldn't learn. He didn't heed my warnings; he didn't believe I was looking out for him…" He trailed off before Hippalus got him talking again.

"So let me guess, he sought out more ways to gain power." Jax nodded with a great grimace on his pale face that simply twisted and became redder as he continued.

"And… he went to that MONSTER… Mundo!" Jax slammed his fist down on the desk, sending the piles of paper flying about the room and very nearly breaking the desk in half . He took very deep breaths calming himself down before continuing.

"Nyx went to the chemist looking for what he called 'natural enhancements'. I couldn't let him go. I tried to stop him, but I was dragged into it as well. He was exposed first to the Spark, it sucked his life right out of him…" there was a pause and the feeling in the room sank.

"But…" Jax continued before looking up at Hippalus again

"But he lived. He immediately transformed into this absolute beast of a man, with huge muscles and a fierce look in his eye that pierced through your soul." Jax paused again

"So… what did you do?" Hippalus asked, unphased by anything said so far

"Mundo had me pinned; they forced me to be exposed to the Spark also. Fortunately for me, my worst mutation was my hands." He held them up showing he only had three fingers "-and my purple skin. Everything else… was extraordinary. I could leap and strike with extreme force; I suddenly was able to use any weapon I wanted to with no issue whatsoever. I was told to join their force so I could become part of something great… but I knew it was still horrible and that I was lucky." Jax stopped, taking another deep breath

Hippalus, for the first time since Jax started, actually seemed to tense up. Shyvana was simply in awe, her jaw open slightly and her orange eyes fixated on Jax.

"I had to fight my way out of there, and I did successfully manage to best my brother in combat, and I narrowly escaped Mundo. From that day forth I operated as the soldier for hire that everyone knew me as, I couldn't help being the best in the land, I just simply was. Hippalus, I have also seen others who were exposed to the Spark while I was in Mundo's lab. They were… zombies. People with extreme strength, but absolutely no life behind their eyes. No emotion. Nothing. If anyone were to have possession of such a device with widespread access to something like a water supply or something of that nature, so many innocents would die." Hippalus nodded his head, and appeared to be deep in thought for a few seconds before collecting the file together. As soon as it was all collected, he incinerated it with a snap of his fingers, the ashes collecting on the desk.

"Why did you do that?" Jax asked surprised

"Because the file means absolutely nothing. You have just debunked every single theory as to what it could be. The trace I was referring to earlier is nearly confirmed now."

"And what exactly is that trace?" Shyvana asked, the first words she had uttered in some time

Hippalus once again took a deep breath before returning the answer. "The trace is that many, if not every, champion in the League has been exposed to the Spark at some point, even Mundo himself, even beings not of this world. You see, being a champion requires something special. You could look at someone like Jarvan, and think he is just an average fighter on paper, but on the Rift he is anything but average, he is a spectacular fighter with amazing strength. Do you think that champions devote their lives to lifting weights or increasing their strength? Because they don't. They simply have it."

Jax could see where this was going, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

"Now for the serious problem: The spark can't be destroyed completely, because if so, there would be no Council, there would be no Institute, there would be no Runeterra."

Those powerful words hung in the air for a bit before settling back down to the room. "I do not know what our best course of action is next; all I can say is that you two should get some rest. I appreciate both of your help. Jax, you don't have to worry about your identity, it is safe with me, and I will continue to have the security installments in your dormitory if you so desire."

Jax spoke, "Yeah I would like that, but I have one request from you." Hippalus stared back intently, "What is it?"

"Can you… find my brother? I have no idea if he is alive, or if the effects are reversible, but I want to know if he is simply alive or not." Hippalus nodded, "I will send some scouts looking for him, but I cannot promise anything Jax." Jax thanked Hippalus and the two were escorted back to Jax's dormitory. Hippalus sat back in his seat, pondering over what he would do. It was not going to be an easy task for sure.

Jax had said his goodbye to Shyvana as he headed up to his room for the rest of the evening. He prepared himself some tea, and grabbed a snack to eat. His mind was blank. Everything that he had stood for, and everything that he had planned on for the past five years was just blown out of proportion. His entire reality was flipped on its head. Jax thought to himself that that is what he gets for thinking life was too predictable.

The only positive news that came out of that meeting for Jax was that his brother would be searched for. He trusted Hippalus enough, and believed that he would see things through. He still had a lot of trauma from that experience with Mundo, and every time that Jax saw him on the Rift, he made sure to be as strong as he possibly could be. In fact, his best matches and most memorable matches were when Mundo was on the opposing side.

He rose from his seat and walked into his bedroom, and brushed off his 50-kill plaque. He smiled as he remembered how well that match went, he decimated Mundo for a staggering 32 kills on him alone. That was his first famous match since he used his lamppost, but it certainly wasn't the last as he also glanced over his wall of MVP of the year plaques and medallions, his career in the League was extremely accomplished, and would probably be the first one inducted into the League Hall of Fame if there ever was one.

After this little trip down memory lane, he thought of Shyvana. The woman really was amazing, always being there for him. She even picked up his slack today on the Rift. That fact alone still shocked him. But what shocked him even more was the fact he was thinking about her completely unprovoked once again. He had no reason to reflect on the woman, but he did. His mind raced through questions of why? And how? And many others before he just arrived at one conclusion: he was going to find out if she really was as great as he thought her to be. Tomorrow would bring another day, and yet another chance to impress this woman in his life. He almost felt bad for neglecting her after their moment, but she would understand, she always had so far.

Jax sat down on his bed before taking off his mask and hood, and he decided he didn't need them anymore. He was no longer that man, he was something better, he was a new Jax, and he was going to need a woman to complete this new man wouldn't he?


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note- Hey guys, thanks for reading up to this point so far, it means a lot. This is chapter 4 of the Grandmaster of the League, and I feel this is where the action in the story will start to pick up a lot more. The first three chapters were mostly about laying the foundation for the main plot, but there will be some side-plots as well as a spinoff series that I will get to later on (it is hinted at in the first chapter, it involves Ezreal and Heimerdinger, I won't even lie that was an accident at first, but it seems like a good way to Segway into another series). I am also going to try to have more than just one day per chapter, but that's just how it worked out for the beginning. Another thing is that the story is in a weird time zone before Jinx had been introduced to the League, so therefore Piltover is all quiet and peaceful, her introduction into the story comes at a later point, but just take note of that. Also note that the story is intended to be a little confusing, things aren't supposed to tie together quite yet, but when they do, it will make sense. Remember, IRONSCALE SHYVANA. Without further ado, I present to you chapter 4 (SMUT BELOW!)- lb54

Chapter 4

Jax's eyes opened slowly as he stirred, wiping the small bit of drool from his open mouth. It had been years since he had slept without his mask on, and honestly, it was much colder than he remembered it being. He rose from his bed, and went through his morning routine of making his tea and sitting at his table. As he sipped the tea, he thought of how he could woo Shyvana. She was clearly impressed with him from the beginning, but it was time for him to make his real moves.

20 more minutes rolled by and Jax had a solid idea of what he was going to do. Good timing was had on his part due to the way the League's season system worked. In the beginning, it was year round, but as complaints became louder and more joined, the council broke the League up into 2 seasons per year with a significant break between them. This was the end of the second season this year and Jax would of course be getting some serious recognition and awards like he got every year, but he didn't intend to stick around for very long. Today he was going to depart from the Institute he declared. He grabbed his mask, put up his hood, and walked down the hall out into the main lobby. While he did say that he didn't need them anymore, he still wanted to put some pieces into place before revealing himself to the world.

He sat on a bench in the lobby waiting for Shyvana. She would have to leave at some point he thought, and he was going to catch her here. It wasn't long before she did walk by, and he approached her, and they shared an embrace that lasted for a few seconds before Jax said anything.

"So Shyvana, what do you think about us getting lunch together today?" He threw the question out there, figuring, what the hell, it should work. She sighed a bit before moving to arm's length away from Jax, still keeping her hands with his.

"I'm sorry but now that the season is over I have to attend to my duties in Demacia once again." She said, never making eye contact once with Jax. He wasn't going to let her get away this easy.

"Come on, we have months until the next season starts, can't you just take a few days off? Besides, I'm sure that Jarvan and Garen will be fine for just a few days." He said. Shyvana bit her lower lip, obviously not loving either of her choices. She rolled the thoughts around in her head for a second before finally agreeing.

"Ok, let's go then, but I will have to return to Demacia at some point Jax." She stated sternly. He understood loud and clear, but he had her for a bit at least. He decided that a visit to Piltover wouldn't be bad; it was a city he rather enjoyed back when he was a mercenary, and now he had some friends over there in Vi and Caitlyn.

Off they went to the train station and together they boarded for the train to Piltover. Jax was once again the first to speak.

"You know, I've decided I would change. Yesterday I realized how stupid I was being with my identity and all, and it was getting really boring to lead a fake life." Shyvana knew exactly what he meant and nodded adding onto it, "Yeah you sure have changed already, you were so timid before, I felt like I would have to wear the pants in the relationship at first." She said teasingly.

So I guess it was official. I mean the kiss was just a stepping-stone, but the fact that the two of them just ran off together means that this was the real deal. Jax was pleased with how things were going already.

After the two laughed off the previous comment, Jax came back with something a little more serious, "So what exactly do you do for Demacia? I'm sure that you're pretty useful at solving political disputes." Once again, the two shared a light chuckle before she answered, "I don't get too involved in political manners, and both Jarvans spend most of their time worrying about that. I usually help out on missions that require a large amount of expertise, like 2 nights ago." She paused, "Wow that was only 2 nights ago, it feels much longer than that already." Jax agreed.

Shyvana was the one to start the next topic of conversation, "So why do you decide to put the moves on me now?" Jax blushed a bit before answering, "Because I sat back and asked myself what was important to me, what was I going to be fighting for. I certainly fight for no country, and I certainly do not fight for my brother. That just goes to show you how powerful the Spark really is; I don't need great determination to fight at the highest level." Shyvana was actually quite surprised. She hadn't given a thought about what Jax was fighting for, but once she had put it together, it was clear that he was telling the truth. He really did not have anything to fight for except for himself, and that generally did not get anyone anywhere.

Shyvana smiled warmly before saying, "I'm glad to have someone as strong as you, it's nice to have that little bit of push coming from the other person you are with." With that, the train stopped at Piltover, the city of Progress.

Piltover was magnificent to look at. It was a true embodiment to what man could do with a great hungering for knowledge, and this was the pinnacle of advancement. The main part of the city was on a huge platform that overlooked the smaller suburban areas below. Jax and Shyvana took their time walking through the city, admiring and gawking at the illustrious technology that surrounded them. The city had changed immensely in the years since Jax had been there last, and Shyvana had not had the time to admire the city the last time she was here. It truly was marvelous.

Jax led Shyvana into the Sheriff's Office to meet up with an old friend, Caitlyn. Caitlyn was one of the few who knew who Jax was, and actually enjoyed his company. They almost had a romantic relationship, but Jax was the one who decided it was a bad idea for the both of them. It had been several years since Caitlyn had seen him outside of the League, so seeing Jax walk into her door with Shyvana was a real surprise.

"Jax! How have you been, why are you all the way out here?" She rose up out of her seat before going over to give the man a hug. Jax replied, "I've been doing well, thank you for asking." He paused to give Vi a wave who was looking half-asleep at her desk; she waved back half-heartedly, obviously very worn out. "I was wondering if you knew a really good place to have lunch over here." Caitlyn had barely noticed Shyvana before. Now it clicked in her head, he just wanted a nice place to eat with his partner. Fair enough, she supposed. "There's a good diner around the corner called Willie's, get the chicken, it's fantastic." She hugged him again before saying good-bye and off Jax and Shyvana went to the diner.

Willie's was your typical diner, nothing too special on the outside, but the place was buzzing as it maintained a good reputation for excellent customer service and food quality. The two grabbed a booth and sat down for their meal. Jax did as Caitlyn suggested and ordered the chicken, and she was definitely right, the chicken was fantastic. In-between bites Shyvana asked, "So what's with you and Caitlyn?"

Jax swallowed his bite before answering truthfully, "Well, she was a friend of mine back in the day. We got along well, I helped her out with some cases and she paid me. We almost had a thing going on for a minute there, but it wasn't a great idea for us to have a romantic relationship."

"So she knew who you were even after you became Jax?" Jax was a bit puzzled by the question, but he answered with a simple, "Yeah."

"I thought you said no one knew who you really were." Now she was interested. Jax really wasn't trying to hide anything because he knew Caitlyn was trustworthy. "Yeah I mean no one really knew, I didn't go out and tell her, 'hey I'm purple now', she figured it out on her own, and I didn't lie to her face like I didn't lie to you." Shyvana accepted that with a smile and together the two finished off their meal.

They left the diner continuing to walk on the sidewalks of the city. They spent the day together exploring the city looking through shops and buying things, having just a great time together. Before long, night fell and they found themselves at a hotel. It was actually a rather nice hotel with plenty of modern appliances. Jax approached the desk and said, "One room please."

Oh that bastard, Shyvana thought with a blush. Even she had to admit that he earned it. They walked into the elevator and checked into their room. No make out session was to be had in the hallway; they saved it for when they got into the room.

Jax threw off his mask and they kissed one another immediately, Shyvana's lips burning against Jax's. They made their way to the couch, lips still pressed against each other before slamming down onto the couch. Jax broke the lip contact just for a second so that he could throw off his robe, revealing his purple, rippled abs and chest beneath. They kissed again, this time with their tongues dancing with one other. Shyvana was one to wear a lot of armor typically; it was just how she preferred things. Jax helped her remove her breastplate and used his teeth to take off her bra, exposing her pale, but perky breasts. Jax's mouth found her left nipple immediately, and sucked tenderly on it, flicking it with his tongue. He was rewarded with the soft moans from Shyvana, and her heavier breathing. Jax then used his left hand to squeeze and twiddle with her right nipple causing Shyvana to cry out in pleasure. Shyvana ran her hand down Jax's tough exterior, and stopped at his waistline before sliding her hand underneath his underwear. What she found surprised even her. Jax was rather large and she started to stroke him slowly.

Jax started to kiss down Shyvana's tender belly, and stopped at her waist before helping her pull off her armored pants. He went right to her panties, she was already wet and loving it so far. Jax used one of his fingers to expose her sweet spot, and he delicately placed a kiss on her clit causing her to moan ever so slightly. He pulled her panties off and threw them off to the side before getting back to work on her. He was going to be delicate; it was clear she didn't have much experience. He used his oversized finger to rub up and down on her pussy, causing her to cry out in pleasure. He slowly and carefully worked his finger into her, but she was extremely tight, and hot. Being half-dragon, her internal body temperature was much higher than that of a typical human. Shyvana could barely handle having just up to his first knuckle inside of her, her walls contracting tightly around it. Jax smiled and began to lick her clit, flicking it with his tongue, and nibbling just slightly while pumping just barely with his finger to try to loosen her up. She went absolutely crazy, and loved every second of it, pleasure flowing up and down her body in huge waves.

Jax continued to slide his finger in deeper and deeper with each pump until he could fit most of it inside her wet crevice. That's when he decided to make her remember him. He took his thumb and placed it on her clit pressing down while working her sensitive part on the inside. Shyvana cried out as she was rising closer and closer to climax. She nearly blacked out when she finally came, letting out a loud moan while her eyes rolled to the back of her head, her eyebrows furrowed.

She convulsed and slid up and down on his finger a little before coming back to reality. Jax cleaned up some of the wonderful juices and kissed Shyvana, letting her taste herself. Shyvana wanted nothing more than to make up for what he just did to her, and she pushed Jax flat on his back after their kiss before going down on him. She got to his member and began to stroke, placing kisses on the tip. She teased him, licking his tip and kissing up and down his shaft before slipping it into her mouth, slowly going deeper and working it up and down, using her other hand to stroke him. She continued for a while, even letting him invade her throat for a little before she felt him twitch a little. She pulled off immediately and said, "Oh no you don't, not yet, we haven't even started." She teased.

Keeping Jax on his back, she mounted him and slid onto his cock slowly, underestimating how much of an undertaking that would be.

Damn she was tight, and really hot. Being inside Shyvana was unlike any other woman he had been with, her body heat adding an entirely different element to the experience. She rocked up and down slowly on top of him, moaning loudly and breathing heavily. After a bit, she leaned back and started to increase the speed of her bobbing up and down. Jax's mind was clouded, the pleasure was unreal, but he wanted to give it to her. He picked her up and placed her on the sofa while he got on top. He started slowly, but rapidly increased his speed, both of them breathing heavily and grunting with pleasure. As they both rose to climax, he swore he could see little embers starting to form in her eyes. Shyvana came first, her cries only adding to the pleasure. Flames actually came out of her eyes ever so slightly before she came back down to earth. Jax pumped a few more times before Shyvana smiled and started to finish him off, bobbing up and down on his head before Jax grunted, and she pulled back, mouth open and eyes open. Jax saw stars as he came, releasing himself all over her face and into her mouth. Shyvana could only mutter "Wow" before having her mouth filled up. She swallowed and sucked him dry with a satisfying "Pop" noise when she pulled off.

"My goodness, how long have you been saving that one up?" She asked before walking over to the bathroom to clean up. "Too long" was all Jax could reply.

Shyvana came back a minute later looking clean once again. She snuggled up against him on the couch, lying in his arms as he petted her hair. "That was amazing." Shyvana said with her cheeks a light hue of red. They lay like that for a bit before getting up to go to the bedroom. They cuddled for a while before dozing off for the next day of their vacation together…

Author's Note: Hey thanks for reading chapter 4. Like I said in the beginning I want to move away from 1 chapter equaling one day in the story, but this one carried on for a bit and clocked in at my usual ~3,000 words. That was my first time writing any sort of lemon, so I hope it was decent enough for you guys. I'll try to write a chapter a day, or maybe one chapter every 2-3 days making each one longer, I haven't really decided yet. As of late, I have a lot of free time and I just write until the ideas stop flowing. Thanks again guys!- lb54


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Hey guys, I really hope you enjoyed the last chapter, I hope this one doesn't disappoint either. While there isn't any lemon in this one, it moves the plot laterally, and is something that I have wanted to try and do with this little subplot. Hopefully this can keep the story entertaining before moving back to the main plot. And here's chapter 5!- lb54

Chapter 5

Jax found himself in a mystical darkness, one unlike any he had seen before. His head swam, thoughts colliding with one another, none truly settling. He sat like this for a while before hearing a voice pierce through his thoughts. "The answer to your future lies in your past."

Jax couldn't grasp what the voice meant, and called out to it. "Who are you? What does that mean?"

He heard a small laugh before the reply, "I am a friend, don't worry. Take the statement for what it is Jax, there is no hidden meaning." Jax's head ached trying to focus in and find what he meant, but nothing was coming through clearly.

"Relax child, let your mind find it by itself. You need not worry." Jax relaxed and found that by releasing his stresses, he could finally focus in and understand. "Ionia." Jax muttered.

Just then, a man materialized in front of him. It was none other than the Wuju Bladesman, Master Yi. "What does Ionia mean to you Jax?" Yi asked. Jax thought about it, and then answered, "My original home. My roots, my origins, but not who I am. I am not an Ionian." Yi accepted the answer.

"Very good. I understand your predicament Jax, unfortunately I had to dig through your mind to find them, but understand that I sense out issues in Ionians, even ones who do not call themselves so." Jax nodded. "I want you to come to Ionia where we can meet and I can help you further along with your issues. Others here want to stop this evil just as much as you do. I promise the road will not be easy, but you will find true tranquility should you choose it." And with that, Yi released his grasp on Jax's mind. The darkness faded to pitch black, and Jax's mind fell back into its dream.

Jax nearly jumped out of the bed when he awoke. He was fully alert and ready for anything to come at him. He looked to his right to find a nude Shyvana stirring due him to waking up with such a start. She yawned before asking, "What's going on?"

Jax replied, "I have to go to Ionia." Shyvana sat up, now being eye level with him. "And why exactly is that?" She asked, very puzzled and showing just a hint of annoyance.

"Yi contacted me in my sleep. He knows about the Spark too I guess, and there are others who want to help with stopping it." Shyvana understood, but protested. "How are you going to stop the Spark when you have no idea what exactly you are stopping? Hippalus said that you can't destroy it otherwise the world would like, fold in on itself or something crazy." She gave him this look that cut straight through his exterior, "And, I took time away from Demacia to go spend a vacation with you. I don't want that to get cut short either." Shyvana was holding herself back from getting angry, and Jax could tell that much. "Shyv, I understand. I really want to spend time with you, honest. If I had a choice, I would spend every bit of free time I had with you, but unfortunately, there are things in this world bigger than you and I. If you want to leave to go back to Demacia, then so be it, but I would love to have my other, better half with me there when I go to Ionia." Shyvana wanted to be angry, but she knew that Jax was absolutely right. Demacia would survive another few days without her; it had done fine before she had ever gotten there. She sighed before giving in, "I don't like being forced to pick between you and Demacia, but I'm going to pick you this time. And it better be damn worth the time otherwise I'm going to be pissed." She said, small embers forming in her eyes.

Jax understood. It wasn't easy for her to always pick him, but he truthfully needed her with him. They got dressed and left the hotel. Jax stopped at the Sheriff's office to say goodbye to Caitlyn and Vi. They would need to take a boat to Ionia, but boat tickets were over-priced, and pirates loved to raid said ships. Jax knew someone who could help that issue however, and he met up with another one of his old friends, Corki over at the Piltover Customs shop. They entered the garage and were greeted by the bombardier yordle.

"Well I'll be. If it isn't Jax! How have you been bud?" Jax smiled as he shook his old friend's hand, "I've been doing well Corki, thanks for asking. We have a bit of a problem though; I thought maybe you would be able to help." Corki shrugged and said, "I can give it a shot."

"We need to borrow a boat if you have one." Corki started laughing for a second before realizing that Jax was serious. "Well I uh, I don't have mine anymore. Heimerdinger and Ezreal took it to go to Bandle City a few weeks ago. I wish I could be more help, but I can't." He paused thinking for a second before asking, "You're going to Ionia aren't you?" Jax nodded. "Yeah I wouldn't even bother going there right now; Gangplank has the port blockaded off. Even if you got a ship to go there, you would either get captured by pirates or turned around."

Jax looked to Shyvana who simply shook her head. "Don't even think about it. There's no way I could fly that far over open waters." Well Jax really was out of ideas. Surely, Yi would not tell him to meet him in Ionia if there was no way for them to reach him. "Well thanks anyways Corki, it was good seeing you again pal." Corki saluted Jax before waving him goodbye.

Jax and Shyvana walked away from the garage before Shyvana piped up. "So, what are we going to do now?" Jax really had no clue, and was honest about it, "I don't know, maybe we should go back to the Institute, maybe Hippalus has something for us."

Shyvana sighed and said, "You know what? Let's just go to Demacia, there's always something to do ther-" she was cut off as an explosion rang out behind her sending her straight into Jax's arms, and then slamming the two onto the ground

"What the fuck was that?!" Shyvana yelled. Jax rolled out from underneath Shyvana and looked around for what exactly was the explosion. Just as he thought he saw something moving, another explosion rocked the ground in front of him sending him backwards over the top of Shyvana and landing on his back. He slid across the pavement a few feet before coming to a halt. He was in a ton of pain after that one, and slowly got to one knee before barely standing, struggling to keep his balance. It was then that he saw the psychotic and twisted grin on the face of a blue-haired devil. She had a rocket launcher on her shoulder, and was aiming it directly at Shyvana. Jax summoned a great force of will, and leapt in front of Shyvana taking a rocket directly to his front. The concussion knocked him unconscious immediately. The world faded to a black once again, except this time there would be no swimming of his thoughts. He was focused and determined to survive.

The figure of Master Yi appeared once again in front of him. Together they faced each other and sat down, crossing their legs as they both meditated. They sat like that for a while, just easing their minds before Jax spoke. "Why now?" was all he uttered.

Yi smirked, "Because child, you are ready. You have passion. You have found what all people desire: a reason to fight, a reason to live. I do apologize for what pain you will endure for this cause, but remember to stay focused in your goals. The issue of the Spark will not simply go away; you will not miss your chance to redeem yourself. Go. Find your inner tranquility. When you have found it, you will know. Then and only then will Runeterra stand a chance against this invading evil." Jax was shocked by that comment, and questions flooded his mind as he started to panic a bit. Invading evil? What does that mean? Is there even more to the Spark than he knew? But before he could even consider asking a question, Yi had faded away once again and darkness enveloped Jax's mind.

The blackness lasted for what seemed to be an eternity. Jax had episodes of his past, of when he was a mercenary, of when he first met Shyvana. All of the good moments of his life were flying around in his mind. It was then that his brain had a very depressing realization. He was done. Everything he had worked for, everything that he had fought for meant nothing. Now that he thought of it, he could barely feel himself breathe, and the darkness started to fade into… nothingness.

I guess this is what it is like to die. Jax had just about given in, was just about to submit to the darkness and accept his fate, but he felt something. Some fire was brewing in him. He saw Shyvana's face, and he could feel himself reviving, breaths becoming bigger and heavier. He wouldn't let himself die right here and not right now. He had too much to do, too much to fight for. It was then that he could feel his body again. He wiggled his fingers and toes before attempting to open his eyes.

Jax's eyes opened slowly as he glanced to his left to see a very worried Shyvana sitting next to the bed he was in. He shut his eyes again with a sigh of relief. Shyvana was ok. That's what he was most concerned about.

"What happened?" Jax uttered weakly. Shyvana came up and placed her hand in his. "Some crazy bitch started terrorizing Piltover, shooting rockets at us. When you jumped in front of me… gods, I hoped you would be ok…" Tears were forming in her eyes, but she wiped them before continuing. "After that, the bitch actually looked sort of shocked that she almost killed you. I really thought that you were dead Jax, your heart rate was so low, the doctors thought you weren't going to make it…" This time the tears rolled down her face and she sobbed slightly before gathering herself. "But I guess you are alright. I didn't want to leave you as I did, but I chased after that motherfucker, and I finally did corner her. You should have seen the look in her eyes Jax, she was scared shitless. I was just about to tear her to pieces, but… I saw something. I wanted to ask you about it."

Jax was a bit confused now, what had she seen? "Ok, what did you see then?"

Shyvana bit her lower lip as she made eye contact, preparing herself for what she was about to say. "It was like… I had a flashback. I saw you lying on the ground, bleeding, nearly dying from something, I don't know what. I couldn't control myself; I just froze as you reached out for my help." She was shaken horribly by this; she covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

In his weakened state, there wasn't much he could do to comfort her. "Hey listen Shyv, it didn't happen. I'm ok. I'll heal and we'll both be ok." He said that, but the look on her face when she looked at him didn't confirm it at all. "Jax, I think it was a vision of the future because…" she swallowed. "Because it was in Mundo's lab. We failed…" she trailed off but she caught herself before she fell into another sobbing fit. "Listen Shyv, we'll be ok I promise, we just have to find out who did this to me, and try to stop her. It's not a big deal." She looked up at him again, but this time believing him. "I saw Yi again. He told me that I have to find my 'inner tranquility', whatever that is. And once I do, apparently I will be strong enough to stop whatever the Spark has coming at us." Shyvana wrapped both her hands around his one hand. They sat like that for a while, just enjoying one another's touch. Jax was surprisingly tired. "Hey, how long was I out for anyways?" He asked nonchalantly. Shyvana looked up at him before saying, "Well it's not too long I guess…" Jax frowned. "How long?" He demanded. "12 days."

Wow. That caught him off guard. No wonder he felt so weak. "You were in a coma for 8 days, the doctors thought you weren't going to come out of it, but I still believed."

After that Jax had some food and fell asleep, this deep sleep lasted for over 12 hours as his body tried to naturally recover lost tissue. When he woke again in the morning, he felt alert and strong again. Shyvana hadn't left his side either; she was reading a magazine when he opened his eyes.

"I feel good Shyvana." He tried to stand up, but his knees were very weak, and he almost fell over, but Shyvana helped him balance. "Hey, I don't think you should be leaving just yet, the doctors said-" he cut her off, "I don't care about what the doctors said, I feel fine. Let's leave." Shyvana decided that protesting with him was not going to go anywhere, so together they left the hospital. Jax was truthfully still in a lot of pain; his chest was searing, it suffered a severe burn as well as muscle damage.

The two walked over to the Sheriff's office once again to be greeted by Caitlyn and Vi who were both very concerned about how Jax was. Vi had a surprised look on her face. Jax simply asked, "Why do you look so surprised Vi?" Vi replied, "Well, I honestly have never seen you without your mask before." Oh shit, did he really forget his mask? "Oh…" was all he replied. "So, do you know who decided to try and murder me with rockets?"

Caitlyn and Vi looked at each other before looking back at Jax. Caitlyn started, "She is this new breed of terrorist. She has just been destroying the city left and right, killing innocents in her wake." Vi spoke up, "She goes by the name of Jinx. Personally, I just call her crazy bitch. Apparently, she has fun just blowing the living shit out of everything and everyone. We don't really know too much about her since she just appeared out of nowhere 12 days ago."

Jax nodded, this was definitely something he wanted to give some attention to before leaving Piltover. "I'll tell you what; you guys seem to have your hands full. I'll give you a hand on this case for as long as I can, and if it's not done before then, there's a new guy around here who can take over for me." Caitlyn and Vi understood. Shyvana was a bit lost, "Who is this new guy?" Jax turned to her, "His name is Jayce, he carries this big hammer thing, and he's one serious dude. Apparently he took down Viktor's lab all by himself, maybe he would be a useful ally for later." As he finished that sentence, Jax's world started to spin. Shyvana caught him as he fell, and he slowly reoriented himself and tried to shake off the dizziness. Caitlyn and Vi came over to help him balance. "I guess you aren't ready yet then. Please Jax, get more food and rest. All we want is for you to get well. Don't even worry about helping us until you are better." Caitlyn said. Jax nodded. He felt nauseous; his already pale skin was now a light hue of green.

Shyvana helped him back to the hotel where they stayed, now almost 2 weeks ago. She suggested going back to the hospital, but Jax insisted he needed just one more night of rest. They checked into the room, and Jax was asleep before his head hit the bed. Shyvana sat in the bed next to him, petting his head as he slept. She was concerned about her vision, and she had almost lost him. She worried if she was strong enough to save him when it mattered. Jax had been so strong and so independent; she did not feel that she deserved him to almost die for her that day.

But then again, he meant everything to her right now. All she wanted to do was to make sure that he would be ok in the future, and that should the time come, she would be strong enough to save him. He really was cute when he was sleeping she thought to herself. Shyvana let her mind wander a bit before pulling herself back to reality, and snuggling up against her man and closing her eyes…


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: Hey guys, I'll be straight up here. I had a really good idea coming into the story as to what it was going to be like, and right now I'm kind of having a bit of writer's block. I think the last chapter showed a bit, at least to me, that my writing strength has already started to slip just a tiny bit. I'll try to make the future chapters more planned out, and perhaps take a bit more preparation before I just go off writing them. The beauty of the first four chapters was that I just sat down and began to write, and ideas just kind of flew out of my head like no other. Right now, I know where the plot will eventually end up, I just have to make the rest of the story leading up to the ending be entertaining and thoroughly thought out. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter of the Grandmaster of the League! – lb54

Chapter 6

Jax woke up with a throbbing headache. It seemed his body went into full healing mode, and he couldn't feel much pain on his chest or arms any longer. That was a relief. For an injury that would leave most men either dead or dying, he had recovered at an amazing rate. He looked over to his left to see an empty side of the bed. That was odd. He stood up slowly, taking a moment to regain his balance. He dressed himself quickly, and opened the hotel room to go out into the hallway, and then out into the lobby. Shyvana was nowhere to be seen. His heart sank, had she really left him? He couldn't believe it.

Jax left the hotel and made a beeline to the Sheriff's office, perhaps Caitlyn knew where she had gone. When he arrived he was relieved to see Shyvana, Caitlyn, and Vi all talking over a desk with a picture of Jinx. "Why did you leave this morning?" He asked, with a little agitation in his voice. Shyvana replied with, "Well, you should know that we have made a promise to help Caitlyn and Vi here, and it was getting late. I decided to start helping them while you rested. I knew you would come straight here after you woke up anyways, but I'm still sorry for leaving you." Jax understood, and he wasn't going to be angry with her; she had a good reason to be missing.

"So what do we know?" Jax asked the group. Caitlyn replied, "Well it appears Jinx is, at first glance, a typical Zaunite terrorist, however we have no backing to claim she is from Zaun, but her destruction isn't exactly uncommon for a Zaunite. She has a rocket launcher that can transform into a minigun. The odd thing? She doesn't really kill people. Or rather, she avoids killing people from what we can tell. Casualties are typically just incidents of her destruction. She seems more interested in destroying the city piece by piece rather than killing off the residents." Jax spoke up, "So why the hell did she start shooting at us? If she isn't bloodthirsty like you say she is, then how do you explain what she did to us?" Vi responded, "Well besides that one case, all of her destruction has been directed at buildings or statues or some other inanimate object. Perhaps she thought herself to be bloodthirsty, realized how horrible that was, and began to mow down buildings instead."

"And where do we start our investigations?" Jax asked. Caitlyn handed him a map with some locations circled on it in bright red ink. "All of those places are where we believe her to be hiding out; we have had some help from the inside." Jax nodded and exited the building with Shyvana right behind him. Wherever this terrorist was, Jax wanted to find her and figure out what was going on. The first location was an abandoned warehouse a couple blocks away from the office. Together they bolted down the street and raced into the warehouse to find it completely barren, save a few scraps of paper curiously in the far left corner. Jax picked one up to find what appeared to be a picture of buildings exploding, and a crude picture of a woman with a top hat similar to Caitlyn's with a large red X through it. Okay, so she wanted to kill the sheriff that much was clear. Perhaps this was just another part of a trap Jinx would be sending them on; surely no terrorist would simply mark their location and say come kill me.

Jax placed the paper in his pocket before moving to the next location with Shyvana. This one was in the slums of Piltover. The circle appeared to contain a few shacks and shanties for them to explore. Together they rifled through the abandoned buildings to only find more scraps of paper. This time, a woman with large hands had an X through her, and yet again another picture of buildings exploding. Alright, so the sheriff and the deputy are both targets for Jinx, pretty obvious considering the circumstances, but still, it seemed sketchy to Jax to try and figure out what building the picture could be matched to. Onto the next location, which was, once a rather nice library, now burned down from Jinx's mayhem.

Scraps of paper were not the clue here, in fact there were tons of them due to the destruction of well, a library. On the walls were various words painted in pink saying "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN" and other mocking remarks. Before Jax could try and get a picture of the words, he heard a voice behind him. "Where do you think you're going tough guy?"

Jax turned around slowly to see the psychotic grin once again. It pierced through him. Fear was not something Jax felt. But in this circumstance, he was afraid; this woman had very nearly taken his life, something nobody in all of Runeterra could claim. He raised up his hands and said, "What do you want?" His voice unshaking, and staying strong

Jinx broke out into maniacal laughter as she rolled around on the ground, her rocket launcher still pointed directly at Jax. Shyvana was also on her toes, but embers were flaring in her eyes; she was getting pissed, and Jax shot her a look that told her to calm herself just a bit. After Jinx's long laughing fit, she said, "What do you think I am? Some sort of mugger? Please, I aim to do one thing and that is to bring this city down. I just didn't expect the coppers to send someone as dumb as you to follow little scraps of paper all the way over to me." She started cracking up again. Shyvana was beyond pissed now, flames literally igniting outside of her eyes as her body started to immolate.

"Whoa now miss dragon bitch, I was planning on letting you two go with a simple message, but if you want, I can make sure to kill your boyfriend this time." Immediately Shyvana calmed down, her seething fire disappearing. "Now I want both of you dummies to walk on back to the two dinguses over there, and tell them that they should just let me do my own thing and let myself get bored before I go over there and make sure they don't come out of that rubble, you got that?" She asked, leaning in close to Jax's face. All he could do was nod very slowly, his fear starting to paralyze him. "Good. Watch out for the mines on your way out!" She called before jumping out of the rubble and disappearing as quickly as she appeared.

Jax was visibly shaken. He had stared death in the eyes and lived. It was killing him that this woman had a vice on his mind. Immediately he thought of his "inner tranquility" and closed his eyes trying to ease his mind and remove the fear by isolation. Shyvana saw that her man was just standing there, eyes closed as he was deep in thought; she didn't dare interrupt. Before long, Jax's eyes had opened and he stated, "She doesn't scare me. We'll show her, right Shyv?" Shyvana looked a bit confused before agreeing, "Yeah… we'll get her for sure." Together they left the ruins of the library, careful not to step on any mines like Jinx had forewarned them.

Caitlyn and Vi were sitting at the desk trying to decipher what all this meant. Why was there this crazy woman just deciding to terrorize a city-state like Piltover? I mean after all, Piltover had done nothing but remain neutral in just about every political debate ever. This means that either the terrorist was a domestic threat, or perhaps she was infiltrating from somewhere else, most likely Zaun. Caitlyn pondered over this for a while before glancing up to see Jax and Shyvana walk in. She was very curious as to what they found out.

Jax spoke first, "We have our hands full, this isn't going to be simple. Jinx is crazy, but she had a message for you two. She said leave her alone and it will all be over soon, but if you hunt her down, she will never leave." Caitlyn laughed and even Vi cracked a smirk. Jax and Shyvana looked at each other a bit confused before Shyvana asked, "What's so funny about that?" Caitlyn answered, "It's what these powerful criminals always say. It's a ploy to dodge the law, and often times it's because the law enforcement isn't good enough to keep them from doing their own thing." Caitlyn paused as she thought her next move over. "Hmm… Jax, can you go talk to Jayce? I feel like this is something we can't handle on our own." Vi let out a groan

"What's wrong with Jayce?" Shyvana asked Vi. Vi sighed and said, "He's the most stereotypical 'save the world' hero type person you will ever meet in your entire life. It's pretty god damn annoying." Jax and Caitlyn laughed. "Ok I can go talk to Jayce, it shouldn't take long to convince his glorious ass to come help you guys." Shyvana pitched in, "I'll go with you too, you never know with Jinx out there." Jax nodded and together they embarked to seek out Jayce in his lab.

They entered this grand laboratory to find several men in white coats discussing a lot of data written down on various clipboards. Most of these scientists looked like they belonged in a science fiction movie; the ridiculous, long coats coupled with the frizzled white hair and the dorky glasses just made it seem too perfect. As they walked past lots of intricate robots and other various devices being tinkered with, they found a man with a large stature, lab goggles, and a long white coat working with some large, glowing hammer. Jax called out to him, "Jayce?"

The large man turned to acknowledge the two with a wave. "Hello Jax. It has been a long while since last we met. I assume that you are seeking my help with something?" Jax nodded. "It involves the crazy terrorist in the city." Jayce tightened a bolt causing the hammer to shine to life, and a ball of energy formed at the head of hammer. It kept getting larger and larger, before Jayce scrambled to fire off the shot directly into a conveniently placed target about 100 feet away, incinerating it immediately.

Jayce removed his goggles turning to face the pair. He walked down the steps unbuttoning his coat and saying, "Caitlyn and Vi are outmatched huh? Well I can assure you that the Defender of Tomorrow is more than prepared for a threat such as this." He threw his coat to the side, and walked over to what appeared to be a giant metal suit. He walked into the suit, and miraculously it conformed to his body before letting out a hiss as steam exited from it. He did some flexing to make sure everything was working properly. His voice came out much more robotized as he said, "I will take it from here, don't worry." He walked back over to the table, grabbing his hammer-cannon thing, and slung it onto his shoulder.

The three left the lab returning to the sheriff's office to find not only Caitlyn and Vi, but also a courier from the Institute of War. He was in the typical black robes and simply bowed handing Jax a letter before leaving. Jax opened the letter and saw that it was blank. What the hell…?

Upon further inspection there was a rune imbued to the bottom. Jax empowered some magic through the paper to see blue glowing words suddenly form on the paper, it read:

_Dear Jax,_

_ We have made some riveting discoveries concerning the matters discussed at hand the last we met. I understand if you are busy at the moment, but unfortunately this matter is of utmost importance. Please make haste and return to the Institute as soon as possible. And bring Shyvana while you're at it._

_-H_

Straight to the point as always. He handed the letter to Shyvana who read it over and understood. They would have to return and let Caitlyn, Vi, and Jayce continue on with the Jinx case all by themselves. It wasn't something that they wanted to just leave them with, but there wasn't much of a choice when it concerned the Spark. Jax turned to the group and explained that the Council had summoned the both of them, and they said their final goodbyes.

Back to the train station Jax and Shyvana went; it seemed to be a commonplace for the two. It was getting to be later in the evening, and they had a long trip to get back to the Institute. Jax dozed off, and he found his mind returning to that infinite darkness that he was beginning to know all too well.

He found Master Yi directly in front of him, and they bowed to each other. "You are making great progress Jax. Perhaps you will find your inner tranquility sooner than I thought." Jax felt at peace with himself, and visions began to appear in front of him, replacing Yi's visage. The visions ranged from simple such as seeing a mountain in the distance or a woman's face. But some were complex such as seeing a city with strange symbols on buildings as well as seeing abnormally shaped trees and rocks. Some were disheartening to see, such as watching a village burn to the ground, but some were exciting and lovely such as seeing Shyvana and himself standing strong together, and another of them kissing.

All in all, he found himself prepared for whatever vision came to him next, and that was when Yi appeared once again. "You have learned to eliminate fear today. Isolation is the key to eliminating harm. However Jax, do not just live for the good in life. Look for ways to improve. Look for lies and exploit them. Your journey is not yet close to done. You will encounter many lies and negativity. It is up to you to silence them and find what is true." And with that, Yi disappeared, and Jax fell back into a dream…

Author's note- This chapter felt much better to write. I think maybe I just hit a hiccup in Chapter 5, but man this was soooo much easier to write, although it is a bit shorter than normal, it advances the plot according to what I have set out to do. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! – lb54


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: Whats up guys. So far the story has almost 1,500 views, and the fact that so many people are coming to read the story every day makes me feel pretty awesome. I know my writing is a bit dialogue heavy, and I took the last day off, and spent some time reading other fanfics for a little inspiration. While last chapter was easy to write, I don't know, I'm not really loving the plot so far. The idea was way cooler in my head than on paper thus far. I'm going to try and salvage the story and make it maybe more deep because honestly it feels like a first time story (because it is one for me), but I still want to get more out of my writing. I'm going to try writing in first person here, maybe I will like the changes, but I'm not sure. We'll just play it by ear. I feel I can do better, so from here on out I'm going to extend chapter lengths and change structure around to make more sense, and honestly develop the characters, because they feel so one-dimensional and flat at this point. Maybe I'm just being hypercritical, but hopefully this chapter will be the best one yet. Enjoy! – lb54

Chapter 7

My eyes opened slowly as I took in the early morning sunlight through the train window. My neck was aching from having zero support all night. I looked to my left and saw Shyvana there, snoozing prettily, making a cute "hoo" sound every time she exhaled. I smiled. She really was beautiful, and it hadn't even been that long since we first met. So much changes in a short amount of time. I peered out of the window again, and in the distance, illuminated by the early morning light I could see the institute. The building remained grandiose since its inception, and upkeep costs weren't cheap. However something was different about it…

I could only look on in horror as the entire north side of the Institute exploded and smoke began to plume up. It took a few seconds, but the loud bang from the explosion rocked the train, and passengers stood up and looked out their windows. Shyvana tapped me on the shoulder, and asked sleepily. "What's going on?" She yawned.

"I…Have no idea. The Institute just…blew up." I couldn't believe my eyes. Who would just blow up the institute? There's no sound logic in doing so. Maybe… maybe they wanted to kill me. Maybe it was Noxus wanting revenge for destroying the Spark. All I knew what that once the train stopped at the station, we were going to find the underlying cause of this.

Once the train came to a screeching halt, there was a mad dash to exit. I grabbed Shyvana's hand and together we plowed through the crowd. Once we were outside, the smoke was everywhere. I saw people coughing to the left and right of me, trying to purge their lungs of the smog. I looked at Shyvana, who had that glow in her eye, and we ran to the Institute. Once we got there, we saw many robed men and women running for their lives out of the front doors. I ran inside to help anyone I could. I was stopped by none other than Hippalus himself who said hastily, "There are others on the second floor, go try and save them." He then immediately dashed back in himself next to me.

I raced up the spiral staircase and arrived on the second floor only to be blinded by smoke, and tears swelling up in my eyes. I covered my mouth and nose with my arm to try and shield myself from the smoke. I entered the first room I could find on my right, and no one was there. I ran quickly to the next room, just before the ceiling collapsed bringing with it a great amount of hungry flames. I looked back and saw Shyvana on the other side, she turned away immediately and ran off, I did the same. It was then that I heard a pounding on one of the doors to my right, and muffled screams. I ran to the door and tried to kick it down, only to fail again and again. I stood back and grabbed a nearby table, and smashed it through the door, and leapt through.

There was a woman, dressed in typical summoner garb: a long, sleek, shiny robe. Hers happened to be a dark blue. I reached my hand out to her, and just before our hands touched, I smelled it first. Her robe caught flame from behind, and she immediately went up in flames due to the flammability of the robe. Her body was engulfed in flames, and my natural instincts kicked in. I jumped back, leaving her to burn as the floor fell through, taking her down with it. At least she wouldn't burn to death I thought to myself.

I then realized how fucked I was. The second floor was now on the verge of collapsing due to the third floor already falling through, and flames were spreading everywhere. I could barely see five feet in front of me due to smoke, and there wasn't a single route for me to take that wasn't blocked off by flaming debris. I may have been able to cheat death once, and beating it twice isn't exactly good odds. My choices were running out; the second floor was much higher up than that of a typical second floor due to the lobby rising up to 25 feet at its peak, so there was a slight chance I wouldn't break my neck or back on impact, but I would likely die or be paralyzed. Neither of that sounded appealing, but neither did burning alive.

The flames licked past me, almost lighting me up. I quickly dodged to the right, only to land right into a weak portion of the ground. The floor gave out, and I was falling through, but I caught myself and tried to pull myself back up as my lungs burned for clean oxygen. I'm going to die. I can't believe it. There's nothing I can do.

I let go and I fell with my body parallel to the ground. I slipped out of consciousness and black was all I saw.

The ceiling crashed in above me in a brilliant orange glow of fire. Jax had already gone ahead of me, and now this debris was the only thing separating us. I know how to handle a large amount of fire and smoke, after all I am half-dragon. I turned around and searched for another route, he would need help at some point. I quickly checked rooms finding no one around, only flame in my way. As I pushed on I found myself one room with a missing floor away from the man I had come to adore. He looked shaken, and he didn't even see me.

The flames were starting to close in on him. Oh god, what am I going to do? A crazy thought came across my mind, and I transformed into my true form and leapt out the side of the Institute, making my own exit. I flew forward and distanced myself from the building before swooping around and gathering speed. This was crazy, but he wasn't going to survive without a miracle.

I lowered my head and smashed through the Institute once again, and I saw him falling, his limp body dropping at a very high rate. I angled downwards to catch him on my back. It was going to be close. I felt a thud on my back before slamming into the ground, destroying the beautiful tiled floor and sliding forward. We came to a halt and I felt the world fading around me, but I wouldn't let myself pass out. I shifted back to human form, and scrambled to my feet, picking up Jax. I ran to the doors and was greeted by a host of people that took him off my arms and helped me stay upright. Going through the Institute didn't exactly feel great, especially when I did it twice.

We were escorted to a hospital where the injured were all treated, and even members of the High Council were helping in the recovery aid. I was going to be looked at, but all I cared about what that Jax would be ok. My fire burned bright for one man, and that man was him. I'm not going to let him die on me, although saving him twice in a row was quite miraculous. I sat down next to his hospital bed with Hippalus right beside me. We were dead silent as the doctors were trying to clean his lungs and pump clean oxygen into them.

Before long, Jax's eyes fluttered open again. I was relieved, and my body relaxed itself, and immediately pain rushed in, the endorphins being released from my nerves knowing that I had saved him. This pain was incredible. My head was throbbing, my arms and shoulders were both burning, and my chest heaved with pain. Hippalus helped me to my feet to find a doctor. I turned back to Jax, who simply nodded at me before I walked off.

Unreal. I couldn't believe this woman. She went to unbelievable ends to save me. I mean, I had only done the same for her not too long ago. Honestly, I wasn't in too bad of pain, I had some burns on my arms and legs, but they weren't anything serious. My lungs were full of smoke, and I passed out from asphyxiation. I took the oxygen mask off my face and thought about what my tranquility was.

It dawned on me. Shyvana. I mean as obvious as it would seem at first, Yi's words confused even the wisest of men. She was the whole reason for me being alive right now, and I mean alive in more than just one way. I was alive not only literally, but also emotionally and mentally. She had brought me from this dark time in my life where I was simply a meathead, a man with a weapon. She gave me purpose to live.

I knew she would be alright, so I let myself daydream some more about her, and her soft, delicate touch. I thought back to our special night at the hotel in Piltover, and I honestly couldn't wait for round two. But once again, she meant more to me than just a sex toy. I found myself lost in thought as Hippalus returned to my room, planting himself in a chair to my left. He started off with a simple, "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. I just inhaled a little too much smoke is all. Did we get most of them out of there?" Hippalus paused and took a deep breath. He shook his head, and choked back some tears. "We lost good men today Jax. A lot of them too. The initial blast took out the entire fifth and sixth floors instantly, and then everything just collapsed downwards." He put his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes, trying to come to terms with what just happened.

"Why?" I asked. He stopped and paused in thought trying to piece together everything. I don't think even he knew why it happened, but I had to at least try and gather some information. He gazed off into nothingness, and then refocused his eyes back to me. "I think they wanted to kill me Jax. No one else on the High Council is a precious enough target to kill several dozen innocents." I tried to figure out in my mind why he of all people would be the target. "What makes you a target?" I asked.

Without missing a beat he replied, "Because I have a very important ally. You." I reeled my head back. How would knowing me make a difference? I thought my identity was still unknown to the majority of the world, but I suppose word travels fast. I ran over my thoughts before asking, "Why did you want us back at the Institute anyways?" He was caught off guard by that one a bit. But he came up with an answer soon enough. "Well, we learned more about the Spark, and who is actually behind it. I had a plan in place to try and rally all the City-states of Valoran together in a coalition to take down this threat, but apparently there's more than just one threat we have to deal with." I nodded. It seemed like he was hiding something.

I didn't want to press the matter any further, and I rose up out of my bed. I wanted to check up on Shyvana, and see how she was doing. I walked down the corridor and grimaced as I peeked into doors to see people having their limbs amputated from terrible burns, their screams muffled by a rag in their mouth. I finally arrived at her room to see her connected to an IV, just lying there, staring at me as I walked in.

"You know, you're a real pain in the ass to have as a boyfriend sometimes," She laughed. I smiled and sat on the bed next to her. I wanted to tell her how I really felt, I knew it was already clear at that point, but just saying it made me feel great. I placed my hand on her cheek before kissing her softly on the lips. I pulled my head back a bit before saying, "I have something I want to tell you Shyv…" We both blushed just a little bit before I came out and said it. "I know we haven't been together long, but no one has ever gone out of their way to save me like that. I can feel safe saying this knowing that I have done the same for you, and that you feel the same for me." I looked into her eyes, and gave her another short, sweet kiss on her lips. "I love you," I whispered into her ear. She pulled my head back up and kissed me again before saying it herself, "I love you too."

I didn't want to mess up her IV, so I sat there with her, holding her in my arms. We shared another passionate kiss, this time our tongues twirling around and doing various dances with each other. Our make-out session was cut short when someone appeared at the door, knocking as they entered. I turned to face this man, and I couldn't believe my eyes. The man had a warped physique, one arm longer and more muscular than the other, and his face was a little disfigured. His skin color varied from being purple like Jax's, to being almost yellow. He was wearing summoner robes, similar to those of any other summoner in the League, only his were a blood red color. He had long scars on his face going across his cheeks and eyes.

"It's… It's actually you!" I approached my brother Nyx slowly, still keeping my guard up. He simply raised his hand, saying he wasn't in any position to harm me. "Hello Jax, I am glad to see you are still alive. I have been searching for you the past 5 years ever since you disappeared. I heard your name in the League of Legends, but I doubted it was actually you." His voice was tough and hoarse, and it was clear he had been through hell and back more than a few times.

Thoughts raced through my head. Had he really been searching for me this whole time? I guess he was much better at hiding himself than I was. Shyvana called out behind me, "Are you Nyx?" Nyx nodded to her before turning back to me. "Brother, you were right about Mundo. I should have listened to you from the beginning." He kneeled down in front of me. "I am truly sorry for the curse I have brought down upon the both of us. I pray you will forgive me." He didn't look up at all during his apology.

While it is true that he has caused a lot of the issues in my life, he was blood. And blood was always important. "Yes Nyx, I forgive you, but understand that the past is the past. My curse has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Brother, it is now my duty to hunt down and secure the remnants of the spark, and make sure it is placed into proper hands." He was startled a bit by that, and stood up, glaring right into my eyes. "And whose hands do they belong to?" I didn't hesitate before answering, "The high council's."

Nyx looked away from my eyes, and asked, "It's Hippalus telling you what to do isn't it?" He looked back up at me and I simply nodded. He frowned and closed the door, making sure no one else could hear us. "Now listen brother as you would have liked me to do all those years ago. I assure you that Hippalus is corrupt. Think about it brother, why would he send you on suicide missions and then call you back only for him to try and kill you by bombing the Institute?" I was stunned. I didn't know what to believe. I looked at Shyvana who was equally confused. "Why do you think he would want to kill me then brother? There must be a logical reason for it." Nyx took a quick breath and answered, "Our past life. Mercenaries are never forgiven. It was the last mission that we took together, you remember I'm sure. We burned down that field, and fought off Zaun from advancing into Noxus. Hippalus was one of the men we fought against. He used to be a Zaunite soldier, and he has been toying with you the entire time. Think about just today for instance; why did no aid come to except for your wonderful girlfriend? Because Hippalus stopped anyone else from entering the Institute except for you two." I couldn't believe my ears. Hippalus seemed so genuine, but that's what always made me suspicious of him. On the other hand, my brother simply appeared from nowhere to tell me all of this. In what world does that make sense?

I shook my head, "No, he went in the Institute with us." Nyx had an adamant look in his eye. "He ran out immediately after. The explosion was meant for the both of you, but he predicted your arrival to be much earlier than it was. I slowed the train by about 10 minutes once I found out everything, I didn't want you to die, and I certainly didn't want the one you live for to die either." I was at a loss for words. Thoughts flooded my mind, and nothing seemed to be clear inside of my head. I was able to muster up a simple sentence. "I…need some time to think about all this Nyx. Just promise me this," he nodded, "wait for me to make up my mind. I want to at least see you again before we make any moves." With that he waved and walked out of the room. Shyvana and I had some things to discuss…

Author's note: Ok, I promise I won't have two notes per chapter all the time, but since this was a new style for me, I want you guys to possibly tell me which you like better. I was subconsciously writing in the same style as before in places throughout the chapter before switching back to first person, and it seems to read well. Maybe I will keep this hybrid style and see where it ends up. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: Going to stick with what I did last chapter. See how it goes. Smut below. Enjoy! – lb54

Chapter 8

It had been about a week since the attack on the Institute. Shyvana and I were both going to be ok, however we were still trying to piece together all of this, and choose between Hippalus and Nyx. On one hand, there was a member of the High Council who had taken a serious interest in the Spark, and undoubtedly was going to try and get his hands on it. What he would do with the Spark was still unclear to either of us. On the other hand, you had my brother, a man who consented to using the all-mighty weapon to cheat himself into becoming powerful. I could sense a longing for forgiveness in his eyes, and I wanted to believe that he had come around and realized that I truly was right, but it was unclear. For all we know, he could be trying to use the Spark for evil. In any case, we had a choice to make.

Shyvana and I were admitted from the hospital 2 days ago, and now we found ourselves in a small village to the south of the Institute. Construction crews were sent back to the Institute after the place was checked for more explosives. Shyvana wanted us to leave for Demacia. We still had to tell Nyx or Hippalus which side we were going to be on, not that Hippalus knew about Nyx. I was simply out walking a trail in the early morning before returning back to our hut. Shyvana was awake, making herself a small breakfast. She smiled at me as she stirred up the eggs in the pan. "You want something to eat?" I shook my head, I had already eaten this morning. She shrugged and placed all of the eggs onto her plate, and sat down in a chair to enjoy her meal.

I was still trying to make this decision, and she could tell I was still in thought, but wasn't afraid to tell me what she thought. "I know we've been talking about this extensively the past couple of days, but here, I've come to a conclusion that I hope you can go with." I looked at her intrigued. She said, "I have personally never been fond of this Hippalus guy, I mean what does he exactly do for the Institute? Help with human resources? I mean come on, how do we get a letter to return to the Institute, and then have it blow up in our face right before we get there? The guy is awfully sketchy Jax." I nodded, I had thought these same thoughts.

I spoke up, "But you don't think Nyx is suspicious at all then?" She finished another bite before replying, "I never said that. I agree that we should be a little cautious around him considering his past, but what reason does he have to lie to us? We aren't in possession of the Spark, we are simply trying to help obtain it. Honestly, he seems a lot more reliable than Hippalus, and he didn't seem like the savage you described him to be." It came down to picking a lesser of two evils. I supposed Nyx seemed more believable, Shyvana made that much certain. We were going to go with Nyx, but I still didn't feel 100% about it.

After her breakfast, we left to meet up with my brother in front of the Institute's construction site. He was there waiting, emotionless as ever. I extended my hand, but he simply looked at it before hugging me tightly. "Brother… I am so sorry for what happened back then. I promise I will never cross you again. I know that it must have been hard to believe everything I had to say, but I'm glad that you and I can be together again." With that, he released me, smiling for what must have been the first time in years. "Nyx, I want to believe you. You just have to understand, our trust is hurt badly, and scars never fully heal." He nodded, understanding. He said, "I don't intend to do anything drastic as of yet. We have time on our side. I will fill you both in on all the details soon enough, I just have to sort some things out with the Council so that we can gain allies from the City-states of Valoran. I know you have friends in Piltover, and I'm glad I was following you when I was, otherwise you would be a dead man right now Jax." I hadn't realized that he had been following us. Shyvana did say that she left me all by myself when she chased after Jinx, I guess Nyx must have administered some first aid right then and there. "When do you want to meet up with us, and where?" I asked. Nyx ran over his thoughts before answering, "I'll seek you two out in 3 days' time, and when we meet back up, we will head to Ionia. I believe Master Yi has something for me."

"Wait, has Yi been contacting you too?" Nyx seemed a little confused by the statement. "Why of course he has Jax, ever since I was touched by the Spark, I was able to communicate with him. I would have thought the same for you too." I shook my head. "It wasn't until recently that he came into contact with me. He has something for me too." With that, we parted from Nyx, waving before turning opposite directions.

It would be one of the only stress-free times Shyvana and I would have for a while. I locked my hand with hers, my three-fingered hand making it a little awkward, but I still wanted to feel her touch. We arrived back in the village, and packed our bags; we were heading to Demacia. We made haste back to the train station, and luckily for us, this was one of the speedy day trains, so a trip to Demacia would only take 30 minutes. It was a much faster ride than one from Piltover; the Ironspike Mountains made the route very windy. Those trips took anywhere from 6 to 10 hours. We took our seats on the train towards the back to have a bit of privacy, and we had a little make-out session the whole way to Demacia.

A short time later, (which felt a lot longer when making out) we arrived and Shyvana led me to her home. Her house was similar to one you would see in an old medieval town: gray stone bricks held in place with mortar, with dark brown doors, and ornate windows. We could hardly contain our excitement, but she wanted to take me on a quick tour of her house before I took a quick tour on her. The interior of the house had those stonewalls, and wood floors with a glossy finish. The living room was directly ahead, and it had two large black leather sofas and a rather big fireplace in the corner. The fireplace was of course the gray color, and there was a pelt of a large animal acting as a rug on the floor beneath the sofas. To the left was the kitchen, which was a bit out of place because of its modern appearance. It featured a modern oven and sink, and was tiled. She led me back out to the living room, and then over to the bedroom on the right.

She opened the door and there was a king sized bed with a mahogany headboard and footboard. I teasingly said, "Let's try it out." She giggled as we embraced each other, sharing a passionate kiss. Unlike our first time, I wanted this to be real love making, as opposed to just ripping off our clothes and screwing our brains out. Last time I was the one in the driver's seat, and I figured it would only be fair to let her be that one this time. She helped me remove my robe, pulling it over my head before she pushed me on the bed, my back flat against it. She lay on top of me, giving me a sweet kiss. She stood up, removing her breastplate and leg armor very quickly, revealing her pale skin. Her long, orange hair swished across her back as she spun her head around. She pushed me further back on the bed before taking her top off and letting me play with her tender breasts. I flicked her nipples to get the blood flowing, and just as I was about to put my mouth on one, she pushed me back. "Oh no you don't, you get it first this time." She teased as she pulled off my boxers, revealing myself to her once again. To be honest, the Spark had more positive benefits than just a physical strength increase. She placed a hand on my member and began to stroke it, warming it up as she played with my balls. She kissed up and down my shaft, and I absolutely loved it. She licked the slit in my head and began to suck me off slowly, going just a little deeper with each bob of her head. Before long I felt I was inside her throat, her small gags muffled by me. She was clearly enjoying herself as she performed double duty with her hands and her mouth. This woman was going to drive me mad. I pulled her off me, and then flipped her on her back. "Your turn." She smiled and said, "Good, I couldn't wait." I kissed down to her breasts and reached my hand down into her underwear, immediately flicking her hot clit, causing her to jump with pleasure and letting out a loud squeal. I worked quickly down to her sweet spot, and took off her underwear, tossing them to the side.

I put my arms underneath her thighs and lifted her up just a bit, and began to slide my tongue in. I delicately explored her hole, making sure to slightly nibble whenever I got the chance to. She was going crazy, and right as she rolled her hips forward I stopped, making her stay on the edge of her orgasm. She shot me a look that I will never forget. She looked exasperated, and whimpered because I stopped. "Now Shyvana, I will let you cum when I say you can, alright?" She wasn't having any of that, grabbed my cock, and began to stroke it. I smiled and decided to give this a try. I picked her up on top of me and laid on my back, keeping her head towards my crotch while I kept her crotch to my head. This was a new one for both of us, but it was amazing. She was working up and down, using one hand to hold her up, and the other to stroke me while I fingered and ate her out. Quickly, I felt her approach her climax again, her hips rolled forward, and she let go of my dick while she came hard. Her legs began to shake violently as the sweet nectar rolled out onto my face and fingers. I happily licked it up, and turned her over, kissing her (slightly regretting it considering she just gave me head, but I digress).

While still locked in our kiss, I slid myself into her hot folds, slowly pushing deeper with each thrust. Her mews of pleasure locked behind her lips. I placed my hand passionately behind her, and held her in my arms while I began to pick up my pace. Our eyes locked as we continued to climb to our peaks. She wrapped herself tight around me, and I kept my hand on the back of her head while I upped the pace significantly. Her breathing increased immediately, and I could feel myself right on the edge. I pulled my mouth away, but she held me tight, giving me a look that said it would be ok. She reeled back as she came for the second time, covering my member in her sweet fluids. I then released myself inside of her, her already hot womb now full of my cum. We were both out of breath, and I fell back in the bed. She rolled over on top of me, giving me another sweet kiss before leading me off into the shower.

The hot water felt great, and we washed each other off. I had never felt this passionate about a woman before in my life, and it still was only what, a month? It didn't matter to me how long at this point. I knew what was important in my life. I almost didn't want to go chasing after the Spark and settling down, but I knew that it wasn't what either of us wanted. She had her duties, and I had mine.

We stepped out of the shower, drying each other off before redressing ourselves. Nyx said that he needed some help gathering allies from the various city-states across Valoran. What better place to start than my girlfriend's? We headed out to the grand palace of Demacia to meet both Jarvan III and IV to discuss Demacia's involvement in our escapade.

The palace was huge, easily surpassing 100 feet at his height and it had 4 grand towers, one in each corner. The gray ornate stone used to make the city stood out in all its glory here. We entered through large double doors to find ourselves in a grand hall that must have been 1,000 feet long. Guards were on both sides of us, separated by maybe 10 feet, and they were unflinching. The long hall lead to the throne of King Jarvan III, who was currently discussing military plans with none other than his son and Garen. There was also a woman with lovely, long, curly, blonde hair. I presumed her to be none other than the light mage herself, Luxanna, and I was not incorrect in my presumption. The younger Jarvan introduced us to his father and to Lux, who greeted me with a big smile.

The King rose from his throne to greet Shyvana. "Shyvana! It has been some time since we have seen you last. I assume your friend here is an ally?" He posed the question, indirectly asking me. I looked to the younger Jarvan who gestured to me. "Oh yes, of course I am an ally. I helped with one of the missions not long ago." The king's gaze drifted to my eyes, and his look immediately became a brazen, resentful stare. "I remember you. You're the mercenary from years ago. I never thought I would see your visage around here again. I was sure you died. Garen, escort this scum out of my palace." Shyvana protested, "No! Stop. Listen, he is different now I promise you my highness. Jarvan," she said gesturing towards the younger one, "He is Jax!"

Both Jarvans and Garen did a double take before it clicked in their minds. "Oh…" The prince said. "Father, he is a good man. I believe Shyvana, she isn't so trusting when it comes to people. He must have done something to earn her trust." Shyvana blushed a bit before proclaiming, "He's also my boyfriend." Everyone in the room gave her a stare of almost disbelief.

The king spoke up, "I don't know what's gotten into you Shyvana, but this man aided Noxus, and is the reason for some of the current treaties that have lost us land. He is still responsible in my eyes for the crimes he has committed against Demacia. I'm sorry Shyvana." The prince approached his father, and whispered something in his ear. The old man slowly nodded. As this was happening, I felt something poke at my back, and I turned to face two guards, one had a sword pinned against me. It took the King and Prince a few moments before finally nodding in agreement. "Guards, you may let the man go." I immediately felt the pressure release from my back. The king rose from his seat and walked over to me.

"Jax, I bestow upon you my greatest apologies and condolences for my heretic actions thus far. I hope you are able to forgive me. I now understand, Jarvan has informed me about your past with the Spark, and I intend to help keep that weapon out of everyone's hands just as you do." I felt honored to be forgiven by a king, but still kept my wits about me. "What about my past 'crimes'? Will they be forgiven?" The king smiled before nodding, "Of course. They were never crimes anyways. Now tell me," he paused, returning to his throne. "What can Demacia do to aid you?"

I took in a breath and began. "Well to know what you can do to aid me, you must know the story, and the reasons." I paused, and the King gestured for me to continue onwards. "My brother and I have both been affected by the Spark. I received much more positive effects than he. My brother, Nyx, was under the influence of the Madman of Zaun, Dr. Mundo." The King solemnly nodded. He knew where this was going. "I was able to escape the influence, but I hadn't seen my brother in many years. Just a few days ago, at the Institute bombing, he came forward to tell me about his new intentions, and how he has escaped Mundo's grasp. He wants to try and gather as much assistance as possible for whatever plan he has in his head, I'm not even too sure what that is yet. At any rate, we would need the strongest, and smartest fighters from Demacia to help aid our goal of securing the Spark."

The King gave pause before asking, "Do you know who was behind the bombing?" I swallowed. I didn't know if I should be openly saying Hippalus did it considering there wasn't any evidence to suggest so. "Well, we don't have a 100% guarantee nor any solid evidence, but some things just don't add up with one particular person: Hippalus." The King had a nice laugh before saying, "That's exactly what we think too. I presume he wanted to kill the both of you with that explosion." I nodded in agreement. He paused and said, "Well, I suppose we can send you aid. Garen is an excellent fighter and military genius. My son is in the same category, and well I guess you already have Shyvana in more ways than one." She blushed, as did I. "And Lux. She is an extremely powerful mage. If you wish to help in this matter, feel free to do so." Lux jumped with joy "Yay!" she exclaimed, "It's been far too long since I have gone on a mission." The King had a good chuckle before saying, "Now, you may be dismissed from my palace. I hope you will be successful. When you are ready for us to join you, send a letter and we will meet you at the Institute."

We had been successful. Shyvana and I departed from the palace, and we decided to spend the night at her home. Being with her had been magical so far, and everything so far had been excellent, I couldn't imagine myself being without her. She had become my other half. Although most would consider our relationship still in the early stages, I had developed a fondness for her that most would never develop for their partner, and the best part was that I felt the same thing back from her. When we reached her house, I leaned in and kissed her lips softly. We cuddled on the bed together, just lying there, happy to be with each other. "Shyvana, I love you so much. You mean everything to me right now." She looked into my eyes and we shared another long, passionate kiss, her arms wrapped around my head.

She broke off the kiss by pulling her head back. "And I too, love you greatly. But Jax, there is something you must know before we keep going." I sat there puzzled, trying to figure out what she could possibly mean. She seemed embarrassed to bring up whatever it is that she was talking about. "I uh… well here's the thing. I'm half-dragon so, when we- if we ever decide we want kids…" She trailed off. I let out a hearty laugh. "What, are they going to be little dragons? That would be cute. But honestly, we don't have the time right now to worry about that." She looked back at me before asking, "How old are you Jax?" I was caught a little off-guard. I honestly had to think about it. "31." I replied. She nodded, "Well I'm 24. We're both in the primes of our lives, but this will all be over soon." I couldn't believe she was thinking about settling down after the fact, we still had a mountain to climb.

"Shyv, I was thinking about this earlier. I would love to settle down and just be with you for the rest of my life, and I'm sure you would too. But we both have to be at our peak strength for what we face ahead. We don't have time to deal with distractions, but I promise when this is all over, it will be worth it." She smiled warmly and nuzzled up on my chest.

Together we held each other in preparation for what was to come next. Only time would tell if we would be strong enough…


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Sorry for a bit of delay, just got busy in my life. This chapter may not seem as entertaining as the last one (for more than just Lemon purposes), but it is equally important to the plot as the last one. If you guys want to ask me questions or interact with me in anyway, follow me on twitter lb54FanFic Enjoy! – lb54

Chapter 9

I stirred in my seat as I awoke from my small nap. We had decided to wake and leave early to catch the express train back to the Institute to meet up with Nyx again, and there we would find out what our next course of action would be. Shyvana was snoozing to my left, she seemed a bit upset about what I told her last night. It certainly didn't feel good to tell her, but we had a job to do, and no matter what, that would have to come first. The world's fate is resting in our hands, and it is up to us to make sure we don't screw it all up. I honestly didn't know how I felt about everything; my emotions and my brain fought with each other trying to find what I truly desired. Maybe this was what Yi was talking about, maybe I have to silence any doubt and move forward with the best plan of action rather than just worrying about the consequences of both.

My mind was made up. I was going to make sure Shyvana felt like the greatest woman in the world, but first I had to make sure there was still a world left for her to feel that way. I felt a hand pat on my right shoulder, and I felt like I had made the right choice. My instincts kicked in, and I turned to my right to see nothing but the wall of the train car. That was odd, how did I feel like I was patted on my shoulder? I was on high alert, but then I suddenly felt at peace with myself, I didn't feel as if I was ever in any danger. And at that moment, I could see the Institute in the distance.

The construction crews were extremely quick and efficient at what they did, and rebuilt the damaged sections of the Institute extremely quickly. It was as if none of what happened a few days ago actually did happen. Before long, the train came to a stop, and Shyvana slowly stood up, trying to shake off any sleepiness. She had a look of sadness on her face, but she was still strong. I asked, "Had a bad dream?" She shook her head, and dodged the topic quickly as we left the train, and walked the short path to the Institute. We weren't a talkative couple normally, but we still had small talk. This morning, she didn't want to talk at all. Even though last night we slept together, she obviously didn't feel excellent about what happened, and I couldn't blame her.

Nyx was standing by the gate next to the Minotaur, Alistar. They were having a small conversation when we arrived, and Alistar simply bowed to Shyvana and I. "The council gives you passage, none else shall pass." Nyx urged us inside the courtyard before telling us what was happening. "So, how did things go in Demacia, brother?" he asked. I glanced to Shyvana, who was staring into space before I answered, "We were able to gain the Demacian aid. They will help us when we need it." Nyx nodded before telling what progress he was able to make. "I went to Noxus, and they were more than willing to help us. I would even go as far to say they were eager to join in on the fight against Zaun and whoever is behind all of this." I was surprised. Noxus and Demacia didn't get along, so it would be interesting seeing them help us in our struggle.

Before we could continue, we were approached by three hooded men who escorted us to the chamber of the Council inside. The chamber was behind an ornate, gold and silver gate that had green runes spiraling through it. When we entered, we found ourselves in a chamber similar to that of an arena, with the Council all around us with us in the center of it all. A voice of an elderly man spoke first. "Jax, Nyx, Shyvana. You all have done the work of true heroes, but the work is just beginning. The council itself apologizes for the betrayal of Hippalus to you and to Summoners everywhere. His actions were intended to slay the three of you, however he instead claimed the lives of over 50 summoners with the bombing of this very building."

Fifty people? Unbelievable. So it was Hippalus who was behind all of this, or at least that's who the council and the rest of the world believed it to be. The man spoke again, "You three must understand something very important. The Spark is not to be destroyed. Period. Do not think that destroying the weapon will do the world any good, because it will not. It will send the world merging directly with the Void which will mean more than just the downfall of Valoran, but perhaps the downfall of more worlds than we could imagine." So now the burden we shared was more than just our own world. Great.

"As for what we know, Hippalus is a Zaunite man who studied various dark magics. His expertise is manipulation and illusion. The Council was fooled by this man to the point where we went against our own written code that was put in place to limit the power of would-be tyrants. Hippalus single-handedly changed the way the Council works, and as such we must reinstitute our policies, and remain vigilant." I couldn't tell where this was going, but it couldn't have been good. "As such, we are going to follow our laws that limit us from intervening directly with the world's issues. We can ensure you safe passage and tools to reach the goal that you seek because we believe your side to be correct. However, you must understand that what we believe to be right isn't always what is best for the world."

So now we were going to just form a big coalition without the Council's support? I don't know how we were going to bring down some of the strongest magic in the multi-verse without the strongest magical beings that exist on our plane. Another voice was heard from behind, this one also belonged to a man, but his voice was much fuller and sounded of a man in his prime years. "What he means to say is that we can't help you on the frontlines, but we can give you everything you need to lock away the Spark for good. We aren't sure exactly what you will need to do, but we know how to contact the very being inside of the Spark. Yes, it is a being in there with extreme power. Hippalus vanished after the bombing, the last time anyone saw him was talking to you two, and after that, nothing."

I felt good and bad at the same time, it was an odd feeling, but I took what I could out of it. I felt good because I could trust my brother, and that he wasn't corrupt anymore. I felt bad because I had willingly followed a power hungry madman and fell directly under his spell. It was odd to say the least, but now we knew where we were at in this whole ordeal. A young female voice from a corner in the chamber spoke next. "You have taken the first steps to defeating Hippalus which is forming a coalition of all the powerful City-States. Understand that you are also creating alliances between current enemies, and that we will have to intervene to stop all-out war from breaking out should the coalition fail." I nodded. The elderly man spoke again. "There is something else you should be aware of. After Hippalus' disappearance, Zaun has a gigantic magic field around it now that seems to be extremely hard to penetrate. We have an idea of how to get through it, but nothing solid just yet." A force field? Seriously? This just kept getting more and more interesting. "The Council suggests that you get as much help from Ionia as you possibly can. We have broken the blockade from the Ionian port, so it should be safe to enter with a ship. Piltover's own terrorist has also gone missing, which means you can enlist even more allies in Caitlyn, Vi, and Jayce. Should you take all three, Corki can take over the security for the city temporarily."

So our journey would take us once again to Piltover it would seem. All three of us had just been listening so far, everything the Council said could be important, and they were sure to not say anything twice. Any questions that I would have were all answered so far. However I still had one more to ask. "We thank you for your assistance thus far, but I have to ask: will sealing the Spark away require a significant sacrifice?" For the first time, the Council had to consult with one another as to what the answer is. The room buzzed with voices before it faded to a murmur and then nothing.

"The sacrifice that you make is that you run a great chance of being killed by the various beings that Hippalus will use against you, as well as Hippalus himself. He will wield the raw energy of the Spark and use it against you. We cannot guarantee your success in the slightest." Well, at least we knew what we were up against. That was the last thing the council had to say, and then we were free to leave once again. The three of us met outside the gates to talk about our next plan.

Nyx spoke first. "Ok, so now we know much more than we originally did. But what are we going to do about that force field, and what do you think Hippalus is doing in Zaun?" I shook my head. I had no idea. Shyvana spoke her first words in hours and said, "I think he is harnessing the energy to maybe bend the Council to his will, or perhaps he wants to destroy the world. In either case, we should spend less time worrying about what he could be doing, and more time on what we should be doing." And with that, she turned and started walking towards the train station.

I sighed. Nyx and I would have a minute to talk to each other at least. "So brother, what do you see in her? Is she just a squeeze for the time being?" I shook my head. "No, it's love. It's hard to explain because I'm not even sure I understand it really. We are just in a bit of a tough time right now." Nyx asked, "Why is that? Because now you have matters to attend to that are slightly bigger than usual?" I replied, "No, I just told her that we have to set our relationship off to the side for just a bit so that we can put our effort towards making sure this world is still here." Nyx understood, but still wanted to know more. "Jax, you know that she is mad at you because she really loves you." I was taken aback for a second. I mean, it seemed obvious, but Shyvana was mad not directly at me, but because of the situation. She was trying to move forward in a way to not become more attached to me just for the sole purpose of advancing the mission.

"She is dedicated, that's why she is hurting. I feel bad, but I plan to more than just make it up to her when this is all said and done." Nyx had a blank expression on his face. He timidly spoke, asking with a weak voice, "Do you really think that this is just going to be over? That we can just go back to normal life and that the Spark was the only piece in this?" The silence lingered for a few seconds before I could gather my thoughts. "Brother that is negative thinking. This will all be over soon enough, and we will go back to enjoying life as we knew it before all of this happened. Even if the Spark isn't the only piece, I'm sure that it will lead us to the next one, and the next one until there is nothing else for us to find." I wasn't sure I even believed what I said, but I had to restore confidence in both of us. The last thing I wanted was to not make this up to the one I loved.

The long train ride to Piltover began once again. Shyvana opted for a seat by herself, and Nyx and I grabbed a seat facing one another with a table between us. There we played with a deck of cards and had small talk for the majority of the train ride. Shyvana tried to sleep and get her mind off what was bothering her. I was confident she would tell me if it was more than what I had said in due time. The ride was long and boring like usual, except this time I felt much worse than usual. I was feeling distressed because she was. I guess that was just part of being attached to someone.

Nyx and I didn't talk much after we got bored of our card games, and we elected to nap for the remainder of the trip. When we finally arrived in the City of Progress once again, we found that the city was very quiet. I then remembered that Jinx had gone missing. I guess that means that either she got caught, or got bored. In either case, I was glad to see Piltover left alone by the terrorist. Departing from the station, we stretched and made our way back into the familiar Sheriff's Office to find the trio talking casually. They were surprised to see us back so soon, but were quick to look over Nyx to make sure he was a friendly.

I explained that he is my brother, and they stopped their prodding. Jayce asked, "What brings you back to Piltover Jax?" I took a breath and said, "Well, we need help. Remember how we were summoned back to the Institute? Yeah, the explosion was meant for us." The three were shocked. Caitlyn could only muster a "Why…?" I replied, "Because the man we were working for on the Council was working against us the entire time. There's this weapon called the Spark, and I know a lot about it and, well Hippalus is going to do something extremely terrible if we let him have control of the Spark for too long." Jayce jumped into my description and said, "Yeah the Spark, I know exactly what it is. In fact, I took a piece of it to power my hammer. It's amazing what the Spark did for my hammer when only channeling a small section of it. I can only imagine what channeling the whole thing could do." He turned to Caitlyn and Vi and then back to me before saying, "I will join you in helping defeat this man. Our city is safe for the time being, and I trust that we could leave it in safe hands while we take care of the largest threat I have ever known." Caitlyn and Vi were about to protest before I held up my hand.

"If you don't think the city will be safe with no Sheriff, then talk to Corki. I'm sure he could handle it for a week or so." Caitlyn gave a look that just spoke "you have to be kidding me". However seeing as there was no better option, she agreed. Off we went to the Piltover Customs Garage to meet up with Corki and just throw a huge responsibility on top of his small head. When we arrived, we flat-out told him what was expected of him before he could open his mouth. "I have to be a sheriff? Woo-hoo!" He had a wanted poster of Jinx on the wall and turned to it saying, "You're nothing but a Whiskey Delta! I'll take care of this city as best I can while you are gone, and trust me, I've gots me an ace machine!"

Not only did we have the city covered for a week or so, we also had access to his boat which means we could go to Ionia and enlist more help. I asked him, "So you have your boat back. Where's Ezreal and Heimerdinger?" Corki thought about it for a minute before replying, "Oh yeah! Ezreal is doin something or another with Janna, just exploring, doing his thing. Herimerdinger stayed in Bandle City, and the captain brought the ship back once the pirates were driven back to Bilgewater by the Council." I was a little disappointed. Ezreal was a great ally on the Fields of Justice, and having him on our mission would have been excellent. Nonetheless, Nyx, Shyvana, and I made haste in undocking the boat before saying farewell to the others. "We'll meet you back at the Institute in a week." I said to them. They nodded.

Then we set sail for my true birthplace: Ionia. It had been several years since I last visited, but I knew that I was ready. Yi would be waiting for me, and I could finally find out what this inner tranquility was…


End file.
